Journalist booked for slapping constable

Mumbai:  A 32-year-old woman, who is a freelance journalist, was detained by the BKC police on Tuesday after it registered a case against her for allegedly attacking a woman constable and instigating slum-dwellers at a Bandra site where the BMC was undertaking a demolition drive. The detained woman did not have a press card or any accreditation at the time of the incident, the police said.

The incident occurred in Bandra east where an illegal construction at a slum was being demolished by the civic body. The complainant, a civic worker named Prashant Patil, told the police that the accused, Prashant Patil, allegedly instigated persons whose houses were being razed by the BMC, causing one of them to bite a civic worker.

When the police asked Ms Borpujari to identify herself, she was unable to do so as she is a freelance journalist. She then allegedly slapped a woman constable, after which she was detained by the police.

While Ms Borpujari’s phone was found switched off when this newspaper tried to reach her, a friend close to her said, “She was called by one of her maids who resides in the area. When she intervened in the matter, she got a little aggressive in the flow of things and there was a small squabble with a police officer.” However, the friend refuted claims of the accused having slapped the police constable.