Commandant arrested for Tripura journalist murder
The commandant of the 2nd battalion of Tripura State Rifles was arrested by the police on Wednesday in connection with the murder of senior journalist Sudip Datta Bhowmik, who was allegedly shot dead by a trooper on Tuesday.
Sudip, who worked with a local Bengali newspaper, Syandan Patrika, and a news channel, Vanguard, as ‘an investigative journalist’ had gone to the TSR 2nd battalion, located 20km from Agartala, for a news report. An altercation ensued between 50-year-old journalist and TSR’s Nandagopal Reang, who is Debbarma’s personal guard.
Reang allegedly fired at Bhowmik from his service AK-47 assault rifle in the ensuing melee.
Subal Dey, editor and proprietor of Syandan Patrika, claimed that Bhowmik was targeted by the commandant. “It was a coldblooded murder and they tried to hide the body to destroy evidence. He was killed because he had exposed the commandant’s corrupt practices through his pen,” said Dey claiming they crafted a
AGARTALA:
well-designed ploy to portray Sudip as an “extortionist”.
Police, however, claim Sudip had stolen an envelope containing money or confidential documents from Debbarma’s table.
Tripura governor Tathagata Roy said he will submit a report to Union home minister Rajnath Singh regarding Sudip’s killing.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party called for a 12-hour strike in the state on November 23 in protest of the killing.
However, the ruling CPI(M) criticised the BJP for politicising the incident. “The ‘bandh’ called by BJP is totally undemocratic. It will hamper normal lives and especially, the annual examinations started in schools and revision of electoral rolls for the coming assembly polls,” CPI(M) said in a statement. The Congress has demanded a high-level inquiry.
Various journalists organisations in the northeast, including the Tripura Working Journalists Association, Tripura Journalists Union (TJU) and the Agartala Press Club, have also denounced the killing and demanded a probe into the incident.
(With agency inputs)