But on Monday, soon after the couple had gone on national television, the channel’s Mumbai office was attacked by men belonging to a little-known outfit called the Hindu Rashtra Sena. They ransacked the office, smashed windows and beat up two guards, accusing the channel of negative portrayal of the Hindu girl from Surat “kidnapped” by her companion.

Star CEO Uday Shanker said some of his colleagues were injured and widespread damage caused to office property in the attack.

He said the attackers left pamphlets protesting against the channel’s projection of the story of a Hindu girl falling in love with a Muslim man and wanting to marry him.

The channel’s Executive Editor, Chandramohan Puppala, said: “The couple came seeking protection. The girl kept crying and, in between sobs, said her father had attempted to poison her. We allowed them to speak on national television and later called the police because the girl is underage.”

Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region) Rajnish Seth, who also visited the spot, told PTI: “Star News had been following the Surat story for the last four days and activists of the Hindu Rashtra Sena were enraged over the negative portrayal of the minor Hindu girl who was kidnapped by her boyfriend from Surat and bought to Mumbai.”

The men barged into the Star News office at Mahalakshmi at around 4 pm. “About 40 to 50 men wielding hammers and rods came into the reception area and started smashing windowpanes,” said Yash Khanna, the head of communications at Star.

Nearly 45 cars in the parking lot were also damaged in the 15 minutes the men stayed at the office. The men could not reach the first floor since the doors open only when swiped with employee cards. There were 35 security guards on duty and 400 people working in all seven floors of the building when the attack took place.

Eighteen people were arrested in connection with the incident and the channel lodged a complaint with the police for rioting.

Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, who visited the Star News office, promised stern action against the culprits so that “nobody dares attack a media office in the future”. Talking to reporters, he added: “The organisation involved seems to be new and a person called Desai runs it.”