Three detained for murder of Bihar journalist Rajdev Ranjan

Rajdev Rajan, Hindi daily Hindustan’s Siwan bureau chief, was shot dead in the Bihar town on Friday evening.

New Delhi | Updated: May 14, 2016 04:36 PM IST

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Journalist Rajdev Ranjan. (Source: Twitter/@ANI)

Three people were detained in Siwan district Saturday following the murder of senior journalist Rajdev Rajan, SP Saurabh Kumar told news agency PTI. The interrogation is underway, he added.

The three, who were detained last night, have a criminal background and are being interrogated about the killing of Rajdeo Ranjan, the SP said.

Rajan, Hindi daily Hindustan’s Siwan bureau chief, was shot dead in the Bihar town on Friday evening.

Police said the incident took place around 8 pm when the 42-year-old was shot dead at Phal Mandi near Siwan station, barely half a km away from Town police station. Two bullets hit Ranjan— one on his forehead and the other, his neck.

Read: Journalist Rajdev Ranjan shot dead in Bihar

Ranjan had left his Siwan office Friday evening after receiving a call. One of his colleagues said: “He left office saying he had urgent work. It was unusual for him to leave the office at peak hour.”

Sources said Ranjan was intercepted by two bike-borne assailants, one of whom fired from close range. He died on the way to hospital.

Ranjan, a postgraduate who also held a law degree, started his journalistic career with Hindustan nearly 16 years ago as a stringer from Siwan. He had covered Siwan politics and crime extensively and had penned several reports on court proceedings against former Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin.

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