Miscreants allegedly owing allegiance to the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) have murdered a young television journalist at Mandwai, 25km east of Agartala, on Wednesday afternoon. Santanu Bhowmik, 27, was attacked with sharp cutting weapons while covering a road blockade agitation of the IPFT, which is demanding a separate tribal State called Tipraland .
The murder of the journalist, who was working for a local television channel, occurred amid continuing clashes between supporters of the IPFT and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in the Khowai, Teliamura and Jirania subdivisions. Scores have been injured, houses burnt, police vehicles torched and policemen attacked in the second day of tension in Tripura.
Police recovered journalist Santanu Bhowmik in a critical state after he was attacked by a group of miscreants at Mandwai. Doctors declared him brought dead after he was shifted to the GBP Hospital here. He had received injuries on his head.
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A large number of journalists from all segments of media gathered at the hospital to demand the immediate arrest of the murderers.