Workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Thursday attacked a team of Naya Daur during a reporting assignment in Bilawal Bhutto's constituency of NA-127 in Lahore.
They roughed up Naya Daur's team and destroyed camera equipment while illegally confiscating the media storage drive in the camera.
The incident took place on Ghazi Road in Lahore on Thursday afternoon. The area falls within the remits of NA-127, where PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is contesting elections.
The Naya Daur team were recording public perceptions ahead of next month's elections. They asked people who they would vote for and how they made that choice.
Prior to Thursday's incident, the Naya Daur team had completed several such vox populi-based reporting assignments across Lahore without any incident.
On Thursday afternoon, while recording public perception in areas falling under NA-127, the team reached an election camp set up by the PPP in the area. Seeing some women gathered outside the camp, the Naya Daur team approached them to ask about their perceptions. The women said they had gathered to have their Benazir Income Support Programme cards renewed.
While recording their statements, some workers of PPP attacked the Naya Daur team.
They destroyed the camera and other equipment of Naya Daur's team and started roughing up Naya Daur's cameraman, Moazzam Abbasi. The assault left Abbasi with bruises at various places on his body.
A warden present on the spot saved Naya Daur reporter Moammar Ilyas from receiving a thrashing at the hands of PPP workers.
The PPP workers then refused to let Abbasi leave for several hours while confiscating the media storage card in the camera.
Abbasi later said he had done nothing to antagonise his assailants or which would cause any sort of conflict.
He added that everyone seems to only talk about whether the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would win or the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI); this is why, per their journalistic duty, they sought to ask PPP supporters why they wanted to vote for Bilawal and what was their point of view.
He added that perhaps the party workers had attacked them due to a misunderstanding.