Hindi journalist shot at in Arwal, one held

Unidentified criminals shot at a journalist associated with a Hindi daily in Arwal, a Maoist-affected district in central Bihar, on Thursday.

The incident took place at 11.30am in Vanshi police station area of the district, about 70km south of state capital Patna, when journalist Pankaj Mishra was on way to his residence after withdrawing ₹1 lakh from the Mali branch of Punjab National Bank.

Police said armed criminals intercepted Mishra on the outskirts of Vanshi village, fired at him and fled after looting his cash and other belongings. The seriously injured Mishra had been referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital by Arwal sadar hospital, where he was first taken after the incident, police added.

Arwal superintendent of police (SP) Dilip Kumar Mishra said one of the persons involved in the crime had been arrested. He had been identified as Kundan Kumar, the SP said, adding that raids were on to nab another accused Ambika Mahto. Both were neighbours of Pankaj Mishra and Kumar was son of Umakant Verma, personal secretary of the JD(U) MLA from Kurtha, the SP said.

At least four journalists had been killed in separate incidents in Bihar in the past few years. In May 2016, Siwan bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan Rajdeo Ranjan was killed.

On November 12, 2016, Dharmendra Singh (Dainik Bhaskar, Sasaram) and Ramchandra Yadav (Dainik Jagran, Darbhanga) -- were killed in separate incidents. In January this year, a journalist of a Hindi daily, Brajesh Kumar, was shot dead at Samastipur.