Kanpur: Months after journalist Gauri Lankesh’s killing that had outraged the entire nation, another young journalist, working for a Hindi daily was shot dead on Thursday by unidentified assailants near the Nagar Palika market in Billhaur, 60 km from Kanpur.
Naveen Gupta, who was in his 30s, was shot at by three to four unidentified bike-borne assailants and succumbed to his injuries while being taken to a hospital.
Speaking to the media, ADG Law and Order said, "Journalist Naveen Gupta has been shot by 3-4 assailants when he was sitting in his hosiery shop. We hope to nab the criminals as soon as possible. DM and SSP of Kanpur Nagar are already there spot and local police teams have been formed to crack the case."
As the news of the killing spread, senior police officials rushed to the spot.
“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed condolences and directed the state DGP Sulkhan Singh to immediately follow up on the investigations to nab the culprits,” Principal Secretary (Information) Awanish Awasthi said in Lucknow.
The district magistrate and senior superintendent of police rushed to the spot, he added.
Forensic experts have been called in to gather evidences. The police are trying to figure out the motive behind the killing. Old enmity is one of the possible motives that is being looked at, officials said.
They added that an FIR would be registered once the aggrieved family submits a written complaint. Meanwhile, a manhunt has been launched to nab the assailants, who fled the scene immediately after the killing. No arrest were made till late evening.
Local mediapersons and office bearers of journalists' unions held an emergency meeting and expressed serious concern over the scribe's killing and the law and order situation.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh-based journalist Jagendra Singh was killed in June 2015 in Shahjahanpur district allegedly for his exposes on illegal sand mining and other such activities.
He was allegedly set on fire. Singh had worked for Hindi language media for 15 years.
In October 2015, 45-year-old journalist Hemant Yadav was shot dead by motorcycle-borne gunmen in Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. He worked with a local news channel.
In another incident, a part-time reporter of a Hindi daily in Bareilly district, Sanjay Pathak, was killed allegedly by two persons in August the same year.
Pathak, 42, was hit several times on the head with some heavy object and died of excessive bleeding.
Another journalist was attacked allegedly by the mining mafia in Chitrakoot district in 2015 while in yet another shocking incident, a journalist was dragged on the road by goons after tying him to a motor bike in Pilibhit district the same year.
(With PTI inputs)
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