Revati Laul claims that she managed to escape after Suresh Chhara's son and some neighbours intervened.
A convict in a Gujarat riots case who allegedly assaulted journalist Revati Laul during an interview was arrested in Ahmedabad today.
Ms Laul alleges that she was punched and slapped by Suresh Chhara when she asked him some questions during an interview at his house in Naroda area of Ahmedabad late on Wednesday evening. Chhara, convicted in the 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre case, was released on parole by a local court last week, reportedly to trace his teenage daughter who has been missing since the last few months.
She claims that she managed to escape after Chhara's son and some neighbours intervened.
"I visited him at his house and I politely asked him if he wanted to share information about himself, his past, family and he, without provocation, started slapping me. He kept on punching me and banged my head to the wall. I somehow managed to flee from the spot," Ms Laul said on Wednesday.
Suresh Chhara was convicted in 2013 in the 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre case.
Ms Laul was treated at a government hospital and she later lodged a complaint with the Vejalpur police station.
A former NDTV journalist, Revati Laul has been living in Ahmedabad for over a year, working on a book on the convicts in the Naroda Patiya massacre case.
Suresh Chhara was convicted to 31 years in prison in 2013 for his involvement in the Naroda Patiya massacre - one of the bloodiest episodes in the 2002 Gujarat riots - in which around 100 people were killed.
Chhara's former wife had alleged last month that he tried to rape her when he was released on parole few months ago, following which his parole was cancelled.