A journalist working with a national Hindi daily was thrashed and thrown into the Ganga on Monday night by some persons in Bihar's Bhagalpur district for writing about the rampant illegal sale of gutka (chewing tobacco) in the district despite the ban imposed by the state government.
Bhagalpur Superintendent of Police R K Mishra told the Press Trust of India on Wednesday that Deputy SP (Law and Order) Rajiv Ranjan had been asked to investigate the incident.
The journalist, Somnath Arya, was found in a semi-conscious state on the banks of the river on Tuesday morning by villagers. He was administered first-aid in a clinic in Sultanganj and moved to the intensive care unit of the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Bhagalpur town.
Mishra said a first information report has been lodged with the Sultanganj police station naming three persons, Devendra Paswan, Akhil Paswan and Vijay Choudhry, and a search has been launched for them.
PTI