The Most Wanted (News)!
By Nilambar Rath
April 22, Tuesday. 11.45am. The News Coordinator of ETV Oriya received a call from the Crime Reporter of Bhubaneswar bureau. The reporter was in a hurry. He informed that, one Mr. Chagala was calling from Bhopal and was desperate to surrender!
Who is that Chagala? How he is at Bhopal? If he wants to surrender, for whatever reason, who is barring him from doing so? Does he want to reveal something to the Media before he is taken into the custody? These questions can hit the mind of any journalist who comes across such flash inputs. And the answers, in this case, really made a BIG STORY- perhaps the most wanted news of the hour!
Akshaya Kumar Behera, alias 'Chagala'. A harden criminal and one of the close associate of gangster Sandeep Acharya alias 'Raja'. This gang was in the headlines for the alleged killing of Mr. Biranchi Das, the ex-coach of little Marathoner Budhia. Bhubaneswar police was going through sleepless nights to nab the dreaded-duo, especially search light was on the prime accused Raja. Police was clueless, almost for 10 days, on the whereabouts of the killers and facing hard criticism from media and the public. On this dramatic backdrop, Chagala appeared on television screen from ETV Bhopal office and stunned everyone!
     
As per the statement of the accused, he had escaped to Kolkata immediately after the high profile killing at Bhubaneswar. He later reached Bhopal to avoid arrest. While he was jumping from place to place crossing the state boarders, a thought had been constantly haunting him. Chagala was frightened that if he stepped into Orissa, gangster-guru Raja would kill him. On the other side, he was apprehending that police might encounter him if he came across. That was the story of Chagala. More importantly, it was interesting for the people to meet a most wanted in Live.
It was 'ETV Exclusive'. Oriya News team came forward to make a prompt live presentation for its viewers. ETV Hindi channels made a Breaking News programme for almost 2 hours. The news flooded beyond the boarders of Bhopal and Bhubaneswar. Mr. Ajay Tripathy, Chief Reporter, Bhopal bureau, made all arrangements for the prompt and smart coverage. Newscasters Mr. Bhabani Shankar Mohapatra (ETV Oriya) and Mr. Puneet Pathak (ETV MP) interviewed the criminal in live and tried to hold the eyeballs of the viewers throughout! To make the show more informative and tight Mr. Bhabani was also invited to the Hindi newscast.
As a part of socio-legal responsibility, ETV Bhopal team informed the local police on the incident. Police came to our studio and took the criminal into custody. There was a huge crowd outside the ETV building and most of them were media persons. The whole media, especially that of Orissa was hooked to ETV Oriya to read the latest story on Biranchi Das murder case from the lips of Chagala. ETV Hindi channels also stood smart in the competition. Moreover, the Strength of ETV Network was well demonstrated during this inter state news coordination.
News is mostly unpredicted. Especially, when a 'most wanted' arrives straight on-camera, it makes the news 'MOST WANTED'.
_______________________________________________________________________
Note: Mr. Rath was the News Coordinator of ‘ETV Oriya channel’ when this incident took place. He managed the whole dramatic show behind the camera from Ramoji Film City studio with the help of ETV Team in Bhopal. The incident became a big story and carried by all the leading media across the country.

This write up was published in ‘ETVIANS’, house magazine of Eenadu Television Network (ETV), as a part of professional experience-sharing.

Web: www.nilambarrath.com, Email: rath.nilambar@gmail.com