Bihar: Journalist shot dead in Sasaram

A reporter working with a Hindi daily was shot dead while he was out for morning walk near his house at Sasaram’s Muffasil area on Saturday morning. This is the third murder of a journalist in Bihar since May this year.

The incident took place around 6.30 am, when Dharmendra Kumar (40), a contributor with Dainik Bhaskar, was drinking tea at a roadside stall at Amra Talaab. Reports said three people arrived on a bike and shot him twice on the chest from close range. He died on way to hospital.

Kumar, who earlier wrote for Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar, was a contributor for Dainik Bhaskar for the last two months. Rohtas SP Manavjit Singh Dhillon said, “An FIR is yet to be registered but it seems to be a case of personal enmity. Kumar was wanted in a 2015 case for facilitating illegal stone quarrying. He also faced a motorcycle theft case”. BJP legislature party leader Sushil Kumar Modi said, “The government has failed to protect journalists.”