The office was attacked as a protest against the channel for conducting an SMS opinion poll with painter M F Husain as a contender for the Bharat Ratna. Before leaving the place, the attackers left behind several banners of their organisation and even locked one of the entrances.

Armed with hockey sticks and metal rods, the group came to the office located in Suvarn Nagar society in Memnagar area around 11 am, reportedly searching for the reporters who worked there. Failing to find any reporter, they broke into office and attacked an office assistant, Salim Sheikh (22), with hockey sticks. They vandalised furniture, window panes, some equipment and an air conditioner. The rampage lasted 30 minutes and they fled in a Maruti van and two wheelers.

On their way out, they hung a banner on the wall which read: “Bharat mata ka nagn chitr banane wale ka naam Bharat Ratna ke opinion poll mein rakhne wali NDTV news channel desh se mafi mange — Hindu Samrajya Sena.” Another poster stuck on a tree trunk said, “Bharat mata ka yeh apman, nahi sahega Hindustan.”

By the time the city police reached the spot, the accused had left. Joint Commissioner of Police (sector 1), Satish Sharma, who visited the office premises and later V S Hospital where Sheikh was being treated, said: “The prime accused in the case is a resident of Sabarmati area, Ashok Sharma and he along with others will be arrested soon. The state government is taking the issue very seriously and wants immediate action by police. In fact, the state home minister had himself called me up in this regard.”

Incidentally, former member of Bajrangdal, Ashok Sharma, who heads the Hindu Samrajya Sharma called up at the channel’s office an hour after the incident. An NDTV Special Correspondent, Joydeep Ray, said, “Sharma claimed he was out of the city for a wedding, and took the responsibility of the attack.”

Ray added that the attack came after some members of the group visited the office late on Thursday. “I remember them saying that they were Sharma’s men and that they wanted to meet some NDTV reporters,” he said.