Atul Kamble: They hit us mercilessly, like illiterate goondas

Mid-day Photojournalist Atul Kamble

Mid-day Photojournalist Atul Kamble

I was at Bombay House by 11 am to capture images of ex-Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry, who eventually arrived at 2.15 pm. By then, a crowd of photographers had gathered there. He was surrounded by several security guards who kept pushing aggressively.

In the chaos, one of the guards was accidentally hit in the face with a camera. We explained that it was an accident, but the guards began abusing us and one of them hit a senior photographer. I went to help my colleague, but an overzealous guard - Ganesh Shinde - jumped to attack me. Six to seven guards jumped in and assaulted any photographer within reach.

I tried to save myself, but they had surrounded me. They pushed me down on the footpath - thankfully, my bag saved my from a serious head injury. I was shouting as they kicked me mercilessly - in my stomach, ribs, shoulder, back and chest. They were behaving like illiterate goondas, not like professional security guards working for a prestigious company.

A few people managed to pull these goons away and I stood up, in severe pain. I saw my colleagues were still under attack and dialled 100 to call the cops. I have been in this profession for nearly 20 years, but have never seen such a violent and ruthless attack on respectable photojournalists.