CBI probe demanded into Odisha journo's murder

Journalist associations in Odisha Thursday demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the murder of a journalist two days ago.

The Odisha Union of Journalists (OUJ), in a statement, said the government should order a CBI probe and pay compensation of Rs.50 lakh to the family of Tarun Kumar Acharya, who was stabbed to death Tuesday night.

"We are demanding a CBI probe into this murder," the association said.

Secretary general of National Union of Journalist Prasanna Mohanty said the latest murder has showed that journalists are not safe in the state.

"It is most unfortunate that the assailants have not yet been nabbed. The government must order a CBI probe into the murder and adequately compensate the victim's family," Mohanty told IANS.

Unidentified men stabbed 35-year-old Acharya with sharp-edged weapons in a lonely place in Ganjam district when he was riding a motorcycle on his way to home at Bikrampur, about 15 km away from Khallikote.

Acharya was a stringer of a local television channel and a reporter of a local news paper. Khallikote town is 120 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

Media persons belongging to both print and electronic assembled under the banner of Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) here and condemned the murder.

An impartial probe must be initiated into this incident. Besides, adequate compensation be paid to Acharya's family, senior member of the MUFP presidium Prasanta Patnaik said.