Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – A journalist working for a Hindi daily in Uttar Pradesh was shot dead on the Sitapur-Delhi National Highway near the Hempur railway crossing in the Imalia Sultanpur police station area of Sitapur on Saturday.
Reports reaching here on Sunday said the 35-year-old Raghvendra Bajpai was receiving threats on the phone in the days leading up to his death.
Bajpai was heading home riding his motorcycle when bike-borne assailants opened fire at him on the highway from a close range.
“He was struck by three bullets in the shoulder and chest. The attackers fled the scene on their motorcycle,” said Praveen Ranjan Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sitapur.
“We have started collecting evidence, and district borders have been sealed to prevent the attackers from escaping. Call records and other legal processes are underway,” ASP Singh added.
Some locals helped rush Bajpai to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Family members of the victim claim that the journalist had received threatening phone calls in the days leading up to his death, media reports said.
The police have sent Bajpai’s body for a post-mortem examination to gather further details.
Chhattisgarh Journalist Found Dead
The broad daylight killing of Bajpai follows the recent murder of Mukesh Chandrakar, a journalist from Chhattisgarh, who was found dead on January 3. His body was discovered inside a septic tank in Bijapur district on the property of a contractor recently accused of corruption.
Mukesh, 36, ran a popular YouTube news channel called ‘Bastar Junction’ and frequently reported on corruption and the Maoist conflict. He also worked as a stringer for prominent news channels, including NDTV.
Mukesh was last seen on January 1 after receiving a phone call from the contractor’s cousin. His phone was switched off shortly after midnight, a report in The Hindustan Times said.
Suresh Chandrakar, the main suspect, was arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Hyderabad after fleeing the scene.
