Journalist shot at, two contractors gunned down in Bihar

The journalist was shot while he was on his way to a coaching centre.

A journalist associated with Hindi daily was shot at by assailants in Gopalganj while two contractors were gunned down in Samastipur and Vaishali districts in separate incidents on Tuesday, the Bihar police said.

Police suspect personal enmity led to the shooting of the journalist in Gopalganj.(Representative photo/Getty Images)

Rajan Pandey was shot at by three men in Manjagadh police station area of Gopalganj district, in what police suspect to be a case of personal enmity.

Police said the incident took place when Pandey was on his way to a coaching institute. Three motorcycle borne miscreants intercepted him and fired at him from point blank range. Pandey has been referred to Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) from the Gopalganj district hospital in a critical condition.

Gopalganj’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Tiwary said thatPandey revealed the names of three assailants - Rajendra Yadav, Rajkumar Singh and Nanhe Singh - who attacked him.

According to the police, Rajan is attached with a coaching institute and is also a teacher. The SP said raids are on to nab the accused. “Personal enmity was the reason behind the attack,” the SP told HT.

Five journalists have been killed in separate incidents in Bihar in the last couple of years. In May 2016, Siwan bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan, Rajdeo Ranjan, was killed in a busy market place.

In November, the same year, two journalists - Dharmendra Singh of Dainik Bhaskar in Sasaram and Ramchandra Yadav, who worked with the Dainik Jagran in Darbhanga, were killed on the same day.

In January 2017, Brajesh Kumar, a journalist working with a Hindi daily, was shot dead in Samastipur while Pradeep Mandal, of a national Hindi daily was gunned down in Madhubani in July 2019.

In Vaishali on Tuesday, two criminals on a motorcycle gunned down a contractor Bijendra Rai at Mathurapur under Bidupur police station area. The reason behind the incident is said to be a land dispute with a close relative.

SDPO Raghav Dayal said Rai was attacked when he was returning to his home in Terasiya village from Haipur market. He succumbed to his injury on the way to Sadar hospital from Bidupur primary health centre.

In Samastipur, another contractor identified as Rinku Choudhary was gunned down near Kashipur Girl’s high school falling under Town police station.

Station House Officer Sitaram Prasad said Choudhary was sitting outside his house when four men on two motorcycles came and sprayed him with bullets. The victim suffered at least 16 bullet injuries.