Lucknow: Expressing grief over the recent killings of journalist in Siwan and a youth in road rage in Gaya, Bihar Chief Minster Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that he won’t rest until the culprits are punished.
“Deeply saddened and concerned about some incidents that took place in Bihar recently. We won’t rest until all those responsible are brought to justice,” said Kumar at a function in Lucknow.
Condemning the murder of Siwan bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan, Rajdeo Ranjan (42), he said the probe would be expedited and Bihar Police will bring to book those responsible for the killing.
During his day-long visit in the city, senior office bearers of some journalist unions met him and handed over a memorandum demanding immediate action against the guilty
Demanding Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the kin of the slain journalist, an Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) delegation said one of the family members should be given a government job.
Kumar assured them of prompt action and promised that the guilty will be punished.
Three persons have been detained for questioning in connection with the murder on May 13 night and preliminary probe suggested that the killers were disturbed by the news stories of Ranjan.
Earlier on Saturday, the BJP demanded a CBI inquiry into the killing of a journalist in Siwan and hinted about the alleged involvement of a jailed RJD strongman in the murder.
“The needle of suspicion points to a jailed ‘bahubali’ (muscleman) in the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan. Since such a high profile person is suspected, its a known fact that Bihar police would not be able to do justice to the case. Hence the matter should be handed over to the CBI,” senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said.
Strongly condemning the killing of two journalists in Bihar and Jharkhand, the Press Council of India has also demanded enactment of a special law to ensure safety of scribes even as it set up two fact-finding committees to probe the incidents.
