Journalist shot dead by unidentified miscreants in Bihar's Araria, probe on

The journalist was shot dead by four men at around 5:30 am in Raniganj market area in Bihar's Araria

A local journalist in Bihar's Araria district was shot dead this morning at his house by unidentified gunmen, Bihar Police said. The incident took place in the Raniganj Bazaar area.

Calling it "a heart-breaking incident", Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that upon hearing the news, he immediately directed officials to investigate the crime. "How can a journalist be killed like this," he told reporters in Patna.

Vimal Kumar Yadav, the 35-year-old victim, worked as a local journalist for the Dainik Jagran newspaper, police said, adding that the gunmen knocked on his door and called his name at around 5:30 am, and shot him when he opened the door.

The dead body was sent for an autopsy, police said, adding that a forensics team and a dog squad are at the spot.

Preliminary investigations indicate an old enmity with his neighbours could be the cause of the incident.

"In the Raniganj Bazar area, a journalist named Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot dead by unidentified criminals...post-mortem is underway. The dog squad has been called to the murder spot...An investigation is on," Ashok Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police, Araria, said.

Meanwhile, hitting out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the crime rate in Bihar, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan said, "He [Nitish Kumar] should go show these statistics to families of police officials who lost their sole bread-winner, he should show it to the family of that journalist [shot dead in Araria]."

On Thursday, CM Nitish Kumar claimed that crime cases in Bihar were much lesser than in other states of the country.

"The crime incidents are under control and the numbers of crimes are reducing. Look at the figures of crime incidents in Bihar it is much lower than the other states," IANS quoted Kumar as saying.