Local radio journalist attacked outside NE Calgary banquet hall

Police are looking for two suspects wanted for a violent attack on the news director of a Calgary South Asian radio station.

Red FM radio host Rishi Nagar was at the Rio Banquet hall in northeast Calgary on Sunday afternoon to cover a political event and believes the attack that left him with an injured eye was an attempt to silence him.

Wearing a bandage across his eye, Nagar spoke to reporters on Tuesday and says he was walking outside the hall when two men followed him. He alleges the pair started talking to him for about a minute before beginning to strike him in the head.

He says a first strike knocked his glasses off, and then a second hit him in the eye.

“Then everything was dizzy and I fell down,” he says. “I can’t remember how many blows he gave me, he just targeted my head and face.”

Calgary police confirm they were called to the banquet hall around 3 p.m. Sunday for reports of an assault. Police say they arrived to find a victim who had been attacked.

The suspects fled before officers arrived.

No one was taken to hospital, but Nagar says doctors are closely watching his eye for potential damage to his retina.

A journalist for decades, Nagar says he has long reported on issues facing the South Asian community, including violence and extortion. He believes the attack stems from his reporting on these topics.

“I’m here before you, not as a victim, but as a voice for the integrity and necessity of journalism,” he says. “These cowardly actions will not deter me, or my colleagues, from continuing our work.”

“This was not a personal attack on me alone, this was an assault on the very principles that bind us as a free and democratic society.”

Police say the investigation into the attack is ongoing. No suspect information has been made available.