The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday called Authorities in India are being asked to investigate a violent attack on two journalists while covering the health minister’s visit to the eastern state of Jharkhand and ensure all perpetrators are held accountable.
She reports attack occurred on April 28, 2026, when Indian journalists Ashish Kumar and Sushant Kumar Soni were attacked while covering a media briefing by Jharkhand Health Minister Irfan Ansari.
According to a complaint filed by the reporters, they were attacked by a crowd of about 50 people after they questioned the minister about a death Rescue plane crash in Chatra district, which had taken place in February. In her complaint, Ashish Kumar said that people threw him into the crowd where he was kicked and beaten, resulting in multiple injuries all over his body. Soni was also attacked when attackers tried to seize his camera and other reporting equipment.
Both journalists who were attacked stated that the attack was intended to cause them serious physical harm and that it was an attempted murder. Furthermore, Soni noted that the attack took place in the presence of the Health Minister and police officials who did not intervene. It was the journalists’ colleagues who finally rescued them and took them to the hospital for treatment.
CPJ Asia Pacific Program Coordinator Kunal Majumder said:
The attack on Ashish Kumar and Sushant Kumar Soni was not only an attack on two journalists while carrying out their professional duties but also a serious attack on press freedom in Jharkhand. It is deeply disturbing that the attack took place in the presence of Health Minister Irfan Ansari and police officers.
The committee further noted that despite receiving the journalists’ complaint, the police had not registered a First Information Report, which is a document that triggers a formal investigation, and were continuing to treat the incident as a preliminary investigation, thereby preventing immediate arrests. She therefore called on local authorities to conduct an independent and effective investigation and ensure that all those behind the attack are held accountable.
This is not the first time that CPJ has called for the release or protection of a journalist from Indian authorities, amid a global increase in attacks on reporters. In November 2025, CPJ called on Indian authorities to take security measures for an investigative journalist named Rana Ayyub after she received threats from an unknown caller. Additionally, in March 2026, a coalition of international organizations, including CPJ, called for the release of imprisoned journalist Irfan Mehraj, who was arrested in 2023 on conspiracy and terrorist financing charges.
