New Delhi: A journalist was shot dead at his house in Bihar's Araria district this morning.
The 35-year-old Vimal Kumar Yadav was working with Dainik Jagaran newspaper, NDTV reported citing police.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, terming the incident sad, wondered ‘How can a journalist be killed like this’.
Nitish Kumar claimed to have immediately directed officials to investigate the murder.
The gunmen knocked on his door at around 5:30 am, before shooting him when he opened the door, police said.
The local police station chief arrived that crime scene initiating the probe and mortal remains were sent for autopsy.
Initial probe points at an enmity with his neighhours as the reason behind the murder of the journalist, police reportedly said.
Vimal Kumar Yadav’s brother, a sarpanch, was killed two years ago in the similar way.
Yadav, being the main witness in the case, testified against his brother’s killer in the court despite threats.
‘In the Raniganj Bazar area, a journalist namely Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot dead by unidentified criminals...post-mortem is underway. The dog squad has been called to the murder spot...An investigation is on,’ Ashok Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police, Araria, was quoted as saying.
The opposition came down heavily on the Nitish Kumar government claiming that ‘democracy is in danger in Bihar’.
State BJP president Samrat Choudhary alleged that criminals are ‘roaming freely’ in the state just as innocent citizens including journalists get killed.