Tripura journalist Santanu Bhowmik's murder inhuman, say media bodies

NEW DELHI: The Federation of Press Clubs of India has strongly condemned the brutal killing of Santanu Bhowmik, a young correspondent with a television channel. Bhowmik was murdered while covering an agitation near Agartala in Tripura on Wednesday.

A statement issued by the federation said, “We strongly condemn the murderous assault on Santanu Bhowmik, 27, allegedly by the members of the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT)."

According to reports, the scribe was attacked with sharp weapons while covering a road blockade agitation of the IPFT. The federation added, “Santanu Bhowmik's life was taken away by mindless violence when he was discharging his professional journalistic duties. It is a reckless, inhuman act to silence the voice of the free press in the country and an assault on the freedom of press."


CPM alleges BJP-RSS hand in scribe's murder
Two days after a TV news reporter was killed in an attack by members of the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), the CPM sought to give the issue a political twist by alleging that the attacks were orchestrated by IPFT at the behest of the BJP and RSS with the aim of creating trouble in the poll-bound northeastern state. Tripura is scheduled to go to polls in February 2018. On Thursday, the Left Front government in Tripura sounded a high alert after APFT violent protests across the state and imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in more than 10 places. Meanwhile, CM Manik Sarkar reviewed the state's law and order situation and directed Tripura DGP to expedite the investigation.