Journalist community condemns brutal murder of two scribes

Slained journos Akhilesh(left) and Ranjan

IANS, May 14, 2016, New Delhi: The Press Club of India and the entire journalist community on Saturday condemned the brutal murder of two media persons in Bihar and Jharkhand and demanded action against the culprits by both the Centre and state governments.

Rajdeo Ranjan, the Siwan bureau chief of Hindi newspaper Hindustan, which is part of the HT Media, was shot dead at a busy market near Station Road in the district on Friday night. Four suspects have been detained in connection with his killing.

In the other incident, Indradeo Yadav, also known as Akhilesh Pratap, was gunned down in Jharkhand's Chatra district on Thursday night. He worked as a correspondent for a local TV channel.

"Both, the murders of Rajdeo Ranjan in Bihar and Akhil Prasad Singh in Jharkhand were targeted killings and form a part of attempts on part the mafia to muzzle the independent voice of the media," said Press Club of India president Rahul Jalali.

"It is with increasing dismay we also note the increase in attempts to target the press throughout the country, by denigrating them and if nothing else works by eliminating them as has happened in these two cases," he said.

Nadeem Ahmad Kazmi, secretary general of Press Club of India, said: "It is in this context we demand from the government, both at the centre and states, to come down heavily on the culprits and also create an atmosphere conducive to the free and fair functioning of the media in the country."

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"We also appeal to all media organizations in the country to come together and deliberate on how to resist increasing attacks on press freedom. In this context, we offer our forum for every media outfit to come together to strategise on the action plan for our battles ahead," he added.

KalimNews: Jounalists all over the country condemned the broad daylight murder of two journalists.

Two journalists were shot dead in Bihar and Jharkhand within a gap of 24 hours. 

On 13 May, Rajdev Ranjan, the bureau chief of Hindustan and a journalist with more than 20 years of experience, was shot dead in Siwan district of Bihar. In another incident, journalist Akhilesh Pratap Singh, 35, was shot dead by unidentified persons on 12 May at Dewaria in Chatra district of Jharkhand. 

Two shots were fired at Ranjan, 42, at close range near Siwan’s railway station by five assailants. One bullet hit his head, while the other hit his chest. He was immediately taken to the hospital and the doctors declared him brought dead. 

Singh, who worked for a local news channel, was gunned down near the panchayat secretariat of his village. A bandh was observed in Chatra town. 

It may be mentioned that Siwan is the bastion of former MP Shahabuddin who is serving a life term in jail. He is learnt to wield considerable influence in the area. Also, Siwan is the backyard of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who hails from nearby Gopalganj. 

According to NDTV, the Bihar Police stated that they were clueless about the motive of the killing. It was a known fact Ranjan had no personal animosity with anyone.