Two journalists shot dead in Bihar and Jharkhand in 24 hours

Rajdeo Ranjan, bureau chief of Hindi daily "Hindustan" was shot dead in Bihar, reports M I Khan from Patna.

A senior journalist was shot dead in Bihar's Siwan district on Friday night by unidentified gunmen, police said.

Rajdeo Ranjan, bureau chief of Hindi daily "Hindustan" of Hindustan Times group, was shot dead at busy fruit market near station road in Siwan, a district police official said.

Ranjan, 45, died on the way to hospital, officials added.

According to police officials, a case has been lodged and investigation has began into it.

The working journalist union has condemned the incident and demanded arrest of criminals within 48 hours.

The incident happened while chief minister Nitish Kumar was reviewing the Gaya road rage incident involving the son of one of his party’s MLC, Manorama Devi, who was later suspended.

In Jharkhand, Akhilesh Pratap Singh (35), a journalist of a news channel, was gunned down by unidentified people at Dewaria in Chatra district, police said.

Singh was attacked near panchayat secretariat of the village last night, a police official said.

A bandh was observed in Chatra town in protest against the killing.   

Chief Minister Raghubar Das condemned the incident and asked Director General of Police D K Pandey to arrest the assailants at the earliest.   

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.

With PTI inputs

Photograph: ANI_News/Twitter