The electronic media has come under criticism again for their desperation to create sensational news. The Varanasi Police has blamed media for instigating the self-poisoning drama that resulted in the death of five disabled persons.

According to the police, 11 disabled people were admitted in the hospital yesterday after allegedly consuming a substance.

Five have been died; five other are recovering and one Rajesh Chaurasia is still in critical condition. The five dead have been identified as Rajesh, Tribhuvan, Mangaroo, Guru Deo and Ram Chandra.

Later, the police arrested two persons, Namo Upadhyay and Ravi Nath alias Ravinder Nath, for providing poison to them. The police also said that they are also probing the role of TV news channels such as Star News and IBN7 in the incident. Both the channels have also been named in the FIR lodged with Laksha police station.

On Tuesday, the 11 shop owners reportedly consumed a poisonous substance in Gurubagh area of Varanasi when they feared to lose their shops in the ongoing anti-encroachment drive by the municipal corporation. Varansi SSP, S P Shirodkar, said later that reporters of the two news channels might have instigated the whole incident.

He said that shopkeepers were told about the poisonous substance as mild intoxicant. They were also told that consuming the substance would made them unconscious for just three to four hours and they would get wide media coverage.

Later, DM Ms Veena also said that the police are examining the role of both channels in the whole episode. She said:

They have live footage of the incident. One member of the channel team is a relative of one arrested person.

Rahman, who is disabled in both his legs, said:

One person persuaded me to consume the tablet, saying it would prompt the government to give me money.

On the other hand, Star News correspondent said that the administration is trying to frame his channel. Our only fault is that we reached the spot early and informed senior police officers about it. IBN7 bureau chief, Abhishek Upadhyaya, said that this is erroneous to frame any correspondent in this case. The victims had already sent letters to district authorities about their plans. Everyone was aware of their plans and now they are blaming us.

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