Journalist shot dead by four people in Bihar; arrested

Bihar Police said it arrested four people accused of the murder of a journalist, who was shot dead at his residence during the early hours of Friday in the Araria district. The victim, identified as Vimal Yadav, was employed at Dainik Jagran. He was shot in the chest by four people who arrived at his residence in Raniganj, the police said.

On Saturday, the police said that two of the four arrested men were involved in the murder of Vimal Yadav.

Bihar Police said, "Four of the accused, namely Vipin Yadav, Bhavesh Yadav, Ashish Yadav and Umesh Yadav have been arrested. Two accused, namely Rupesh Yadav and Kranti Yadav, are in Araria jail and the Police are taking them on remand. Two accused are absconding."

A case was registered based on the complaint filed by Vimal's father. The FIR named eight accused of the murder, out of which, four were held earlier today.

The accused also allegedly murdered Vimal Yadav’s brother in 2019. Vimal was the sole witness in that case and was under undue pressure to change his testimony.

The murder caused significant uproar in the state, including



Chirag Paswan, leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), slamming the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the failure to enforce law and order.

Later, Nitish expressed his grief over the murder in Araria and said, "I have ordered officials to take immediate action soon after receiving the news."

Bihar Police, in a preliminary probe, said the murder indicated an "old enmity of the deceased with his neighbours and the same could be the cause of the incident. Vimal's brother was killed in the same manner two years ago. The deceased journalist was yet to testify against his sibling's killers during the trial.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Bihar Police stated the 35-year-old victim worked as a local journalist for the Dainik Jagran newspaper. The criminals knocked on his door and called his name at around 5:30 am and shot him in the chest when he opened the door, the police said.

On information, the police station chief reached the spot at around 05:35 and investigated the matter, Superintendent of Police, Araria also visited the spot," they added.