A number of media persons covering the fire in the Burrabazar area were on Monday injured, two of them seriously, when a group of unidentified people attacked them and damaged OB vans and cameras.

Reporters of two leading Bengali channels -- Kolkata TV and NE TV -- sustained serious injuries, while the other journalists suffered minor bruises.

The attackers, wearing 'Volunteer' badges, targeted vans belonging to NDTV, TV Today, Times Now and Sahara Samay, besides damaging the cameras of a leading Bengali news channel 24-Ghanta, accusing the media of not properly highlighting the losses suffered by the traders in the fire.

"They were wearing badges marked 'Volunteers.' We do not know which organisation they were volunteering for. There may be some anti-socials in the group," police sources said.

However, Rapid Action Force personnel later dispersed the crowd and moved the journalists and the television crew away to safety.

Senior police officers have rushed to the spot.