PATNA: A senior journalist Rajdeo Ranjan was killed by unidentified gunmen this evening—the second killing of journalist within 24 hours in the eastern India.
Police said 42-year-old Ranjan, the local district bureau chief of Hindi daily ‘Hindustan’, was returning home after work when motorcycle-borne criminals fired at him from a close range near the Siwan railway station.
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He was instantly rushed to a local hospital but the doctors declared him brought dead. A fearless journalist Ranjan who had more than two decades of experience in journalism, was hit on the head and neck.
Police said the reason behind his murder is not clear. The incident triggered a wave of protests by media persons in Bihar.
Siwan is the homeland of incarcerated RJD politician Mohammad Shahabuddin.
This is the second incident of murder of journalists within the past 24 hours. Last evening another journalist, was shot dead in Chatra district of neighbouring Jharkhand.
Here in the case too, the victim who worked for a news channel was returning home on his bike when the criminals sprayed bullets on him, killing him on the spot. The reason behind his killing is not known.
Journalists remain the soft targets of attacks across the globe.
According to a latest report of “Reporters Without Border”, the media watchdog, a total of 110 journalists were killed in 2015 while doing their work for unclear reasons with India figuring among three top dangerous countries for journalists.
As per the report, as many as nine journalists lost their lives last year while discharging their duty in India, pushing it ahead of both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Besides India, the eight other countries where the most journalists were killed are Iraq (11), Syria (10), France (8), Yemen (8), Mexico (8), South Sudan (7), the Philippines (7) and Honduras (7), as per the report released in December 2015.
Image Caption: Rajdeo Ranjan
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