I`m not speaking to you today as I would have done before, for security reasons , he said as we sat down to an interview, among other things, he recalled what he had gone through a few months ago. On the 1st of June Poddala Jayantha, secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) was abducted and brutally assaulted. The assault has left him in a dire anxiety for the security of his family, while he has himself been in crutches ever since.

I was in hospital for 29 days. I maybe able to keep my feet properly on the ground in a month or two but doctors say that I would be limping for the rest of my life , he continued, pointing at the steel plates that were inserted into his foot.

Poddala remembers the days that he had fought alongside other scribes. We never fought for anything personal, everything we did was for the people`s right to information , he said. As a journalist he was a busy man, always on the move and mingling with the people, but today after he was attacked, he doesn`t go out except when it is absolutely necessary and then only for medical purposes

My child is in Grade 7, and she did her homework every evening at the hospital while I was there , he explained. Since he is still using crutches he has to depend on his wife for the slightest thing. I need my wife`s help to get over even the smallest hump when I walk .

It had all started at Lasantha`s funeral. When Sanath Balasuriya and I were leaving the funeral parlour we both got threatening calls, after which we both left the country. But I returned three weeks later, for some work. Then, this incident happened .

No government has caught culprits, who have assaulted journalists. This is a means of instilling fear in journalists. Keith Noyhar and I are the only journalists who have survived after being assaulted and come home from hospital all others have left the country , he revealed, as he is convinced that assaulting journalists has become the preferred modus operandi to scare journalists.

I am under a lot of mental strain as I don`t know what to do when I return to work. I want myself and my family to be safe but, I find it hard to give up the life I am used to . Poddala, as a leading investigative journalist has exposed corruption in the government, at work. 99% of my articles have been on corruption, and I have won an award for integrity for exposing corruption in government while working in a government paper .

I live in fear , he said worrying aloud constantly about his family. My wife was against this interview, but I convinced her , he remarked smilingly. Since my house is half finished, there are many ways to enter. We had a metal gate installed inside the house, so that when my wife and child are not at home I can stay in my room and keep the door locked .

I could have lived peacefully if I was the last journalist who had been assaulted, but this is not the case many journalists after me have been assaulted. I can`t watch what is going on. I just hope that many others don`t fall victim, then we will be facing a more serious problem , he said