The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday demanded that the Chhattisgarh State Police should investigate the murder of Nai Dunia journalist Umesh Rajput. Two masked gunmen shot Rajput outside his residence near Raipur district on Sunday, according to local news reports.
News reports quoted Rajput’s family saying the journalist had received death threats from a health worker after publishing a story two weeks before his death about a man developing an eye infection following an operation, CPJ said in its press release. A note threatening to kill him if he did not stop writing was found near his body, the reports said.
“Authorities in Chhattisgarh must take seriously the possibility that Umesh Rajput was targeted for his work as a journalist,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator. “India’s poor record of investigating journalist murders is steadily growing worse, a travesty in what is the world’s largest democracy.”
In early December 2010, local media reported explicit death threats to three journalists based in Chhattisgarh. The threats appeared to come from a vigilante group fighting the Maoists in the area. Rajput was not one of the journalists mentioned in the threats, the CPJ release said.
While India is known for its vibrant and free media, journalists outside major cities continue to confront violence and threats. India ranks 12th on CPJ’s 2010 Impunity Index, which highlights countries where journalists are slain and killers go free.
