Gunmen have shot dead two journalists in 24 hours in separate incidents in eastern India, police and local reports said on Saturday, the latest media killing in Asia’s deadliest country for reporters.
Rajdeo Ranjan, the local bureau chief for Hindi-language daily Hindustan, was travelling on his motorcycle late Friday in Bihar state when a group of unknown assailants shot him five times.
“He was shot from very close range. We rushed him to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival last night,” said local Siwan district police chief, Saurabh Kumar Sah.
Sah said police were yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing, but two people have been detailed for questioning.
“We are focusing more on the professional angle since he may have written some things about certain people, which may have led to this,” he said.
Television footage showed villagers collecting firewood to prepare Ranjan’s funeral pyre as family members and women sat on the ground wailing, holding their heads in their hands.
Late on Thursday, television journalist Akhilesh Pratap Singh was also shot dead by unknown assailants as he returned home on a motorbike in restive Jharkhand state, which neighbours Bihar, according to local reports.
“We have no eyewitnesses yet. But we suspect that the assailants too were on motorcycle,” the Indian Express newspaper quoted Upendra Prasad, a senior state police official, as saying.
“It is not immediately clear if the journalist had (received) any threat from anybody.”
Singh’s family members and supporters held a protest Friday, blocking roads and demanding compensation and swift police action against the perpetrators.
India was Asia’s deadliest country for journalists in 2015, according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
It is also one of the most restrictive countries for the press, ranked 133 out of 180 nations by the group.
Journalists in the world’s largest democracy often face harassment and intimidation by police, politicians, bureaucrats and criminal gangs, while scores work in hostile conditions in conflict-ridden pockets of the country.
In October gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a television journalist in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh as he returned home from a market.
A freelance reporter also died after being doused with petrol and set on fire in Uttar Pradesh in June
Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in northwest of London, in July 2024. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Crossbow murderer found guilty of raping ex-girlfriend
A 26-YEAR-OLD man who murdered three women in a crossbow and stabbing attack has been found guilty of raping one of them, his ex-girlfriend, a British court ruled on Thursday.
Kyle Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in Bushey, northwest of London, in July 2024.
The attack led to a manhunt before Clifford was found injured hours later in a north London cemetery.
A jury at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday convicted Clifford of raping 25-year-old Louise Hunt before killing her.
His sentencing for all the crimes is scheduled for Tuesday.
Clifford had admitted to murdering Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Louise and Hannah, 28. He had also pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and possessing offensive weapons but denied raping Louise.
During the trial, the court heard that after killing Carol Hunt, Clifford waited for an hour before attacking Louise, tying her up, raping her, and then killing her with a crossbow. He later killed Hannah when she returned home from work.
The prosecution described Clifford, a former soldier, as committing a "violent, sexual act of spite" and said he was "enraged" after Louise ended their 18-month relationship. They told the court that he had "carefully planned" the attack.
Less than 24 hours before the killings, Clifford had searched for a podcast by social media influencer Andrew Tate, according to the prosecution. They argued that the murders were driven by the "violent misogyny promoted" by Tate.
Justice Joel Bennathan called Clifford’s crimes "dreadful" and "almost unspeakable".
(With inputs from AFP)