A remote village in Kalahandi mourns loss of its only journalist

Rohit was clicking pictures of Maoist posters, which called for a boycott of the forthcoming rural polls, when he stepped on an IED, district authorities said. According to them, the explosive was possibly meant for police personnel. This is the first reported instance of a journalist getting killed in Maoist violence in Odisha.

For the villagers of Mohangiri, 85 km from the district headquarters, Rohit was more than just a journalist who would ride his blue motorcycle around the villages in the block, clicking pictures and writing their stories.

Although he had studied up to Class 10, Rohit started a movement in his village in 2009 for an intermediate college. In 2013, Mohangiri got its first college. Four years later, the gram panchayat got its first arts college, again largely attributed to his efforts.

“If you approached him for help, you would never return empty-handed,” said Gokulnanda Biswal, a villager.

“He would hardly stay at home. He kept wandering from one village to another. You would always find him sitting with a group of people discussing their problems, trying to find solutions,” said Biswajeet, Rohit’s elder brother.

“If he came to know about an issue, he would first inform the concerned authorities and seek solutions. Even on that fateful day, he had informed the police about those posters after he learnt about them at around 8 am,” Biswajeet said.

Rohit’s wife Madhavi was inconsolable. “He was always careful and cautious. He never experienced any life-threatening event as well previously. I do not know what went wrong this time,” she said.

Madhavi said after Rohit’s death the future appeared uncertain for her and their two school-going children — a 12-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a compensation of Rs 13 lakh for the family.

Having done odd jobs after quitting studies, Rohit joined Dharitri in 2005. “I had come to know about him through a local contact and asked him to join journalism since he had such a wide network of ground contacts,” said Sashibhusan, Rohit’s colleague in Madanpur Rampur block.

After the pandemic hit, Rohit was rendered jobless for a while. His services were renewed only recently, his colleagues said. “The salary was between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000,” said a colleague.

“He was a dynamic reporter and covered important issues from a remote location. On Saturday, he was on his way to the block headquarters to cover another story. He learnt about these posters and [after parking his motorcycle] walked close to take pictures when the blast happened,” said Lala S Rath, deputy news editor of Dharitri.

The police have registered a case of murder and invoked relevant provisions of the UAPA against unknown Maoists.