Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday criticised the attack on journalists in Shamli district in Uttar Pradesh the previous day and called for an independent investigation into the incident. “The attack on journalists in Uttar Pradesh is condemnable. An independent probe into the incident should be carried out,” Jaitley said on Twitter.

Two journalists of English news channel Times Now were reportedly attacked by local Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Nahid Hasan and his aides. They had gone to cover the incident in which an eight-year-old boy was killed on Sunday when party workers fired celebratory shots after results of a local election were announced. The boy’s relatives blocked the Panipat-Khatima highway after his death. Police detained three people on Monday in connection with the case.