Image Source: NDTV
Within 24 hours, two journalists have been gunned down in separate incidents in Bihar and its neighbouring state, Jharkhand.
On Friday evening, journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, the Bihar Bureau Chief of Hindi daily Hindustan was shot at point-blank by unidentified gun borne assailants in chest and head. The assailants continue to be on the run.
The 45-year-old was stormed with bullets near Siwan railway station of Bihar, while astride on his motorcycle. Ranjan was a prolific reporter who had been writing for a long time against the local law-breakers in the area.
He succumbed to his injuries while being rushed to hospital.
The Superintendent of Police said the motive behind the murder was yet to be ascertained. The killing triggered protests by mediapersons in Bihar.
A delegation of local journalists met Deputy Commissioner, Amit Kumar and Superintendent of Police, Anjani Kumar Jha and demanded adequate compensation to the family of the victim.
Reacting to the incident, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussaion said, “While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is touring Varanasi, the fourth estate is in danger in his state.”
He tweeted: “this is not jungle raj. This is maha jungle raj… Sad to know about his killing, Rajdeo was a fearless journalist.”
Prior to Ranjan, Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a 35-year-old television news reporter, was gunned down by unidentified men near his house, which is just in the proximity to Panchayat secretariat of the area.
According to the police, Akhilesh Pratap Singh, who worked for Taza TV and lived in the Sadar market area in Chatra, was returning home on his motorcycle around 10 pm, when unidentified assailants indiscriminately fired on him. The assailants then fled the spot, taking advantage of the darkness.
Singh’s family members and supporters took to the streets and jammed the main road on Friday, demanding compensation and immediate identification and arrest of the culprits.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo, Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was addressing an election rally in Panki assembly constituency in Palamu, also reached Chatra and met the family.
Jharkhand Chief Minister, Raghubar Das denounced the incident and ordered the Director General of Police to ensure that the case was unraveled at the earliest.
Police said that squads have been deployed and they were working on various possibilities. However, the family has not yet named anybody in the case.
Deputy Inspector General (Hazaribagh), Upendra Prasad said, “The family is not in a position to speak about the incident. The journalist was returning home on his motorcycle. But, it is not yet clear where was he returning from. We have formed at least three teams to unravel the incident. The forensic team has also visited the spot.”
Prasad added that five empties and a broken knife were found at the spot.
“We have no eye-witnesses yet. But we suspect that the assailants too were on motorcycle. It is not immediately clear if the journalist had any threat from anybody,” he said.
In the meantime, Jharkhand Journalist Association (JJA) took up the matter seriously and filed a memorandum of demands in connection with the murder. “We have demanded immediate unraveling of the case and compensation to the tune of Rs 50 lakh,” said JJA State convenor, Shah Nawaz. Several delegations across the district met the top officials and submitted the memorandum to the Chief Minister.
By Isha Kulkarni
Tags: Bihar journalists shot dead
