Who was Vimal Kumar, the Bihar journalist shot dead at his house?

A journalist in Bihar was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Araria district. Vimal Kumar Yadav was killed at his home in Premnagar village. But what happened? And what do we know about Yadav? Let’s take a closer look: What happened? Yadav, 35, worked as a local journalist for the Dainik Jagran newspaper, as per NDTV. The Bihar police posted on social media that the assailants knocked at the gates of Yadav’s home around 5.30 am.

They opened fire as soon as he opened the gates, they added.

According to Free Press Journal, the four assailants, who were on bikes, fled the scene. Yadav died on the spot and his body was taken to the Araria Sadar Hospital. Ashok Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police, Araria, was quoted by ANI as saying, “In the Raniganj Bazar area, a journalist namely Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot dead by unidentified miscreants. A post-mortem is underway. The dog squad has been called to the murder spot. An investigation is on." According to Business Standard, an old enmity with the neighbours could be the motive for the killing. According to The Wire, Yadav was the only witness in the case of his brother Kumar Shashibhushan being shot dead a few years ago. According to NDTV, police suspect that Yadav’s murder might be linked to the ongoing case. Yadav had reportedly received multiple threats warning him not to testify in the case of the death of his brother – a sarpanch. Yadav is survived by his wife, 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, as per Free Press Journal. As per The Wire, 194 journalists, including seven women journalists, were targeted across the nation in 2022. The outlet, quoting data from the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG), stated that journalists were singled out by state agencies, non-state political actors, criminals, and armed Opposition groups. The most journalists were targeted in Jammu and Kashmir (48) and Telangana (40). These were followed by Odisha (14), Uttar Pradesh (13), Delhi (12), West Bengal (11), Madhya Pradesh and Manipur (six each), Assam and Maharashtra (five each), Bihar, Karnataka, and Punjab (four each), Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Meghalaya (three each), Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (two each), and Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tripura, and Uttarakhand (one each). While  103 journalists were targeted by the state actors, 91 journalists were targeted by non-state actors including political activists, the data showed. CM says probe on, Oppn slams govt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, queried about the incident in Patna, “I felt really sad and immediately asked officials concerned to look into the incident”.

“The matter is being probed and the culprits will be brought to book,” Nitish vowed. The incident comes just a day after the chief minister claimed Bihar was witnessing recording fewer crime cases than other states. “The crime incidents are under control and the numbers of crimes are reducing. Look at the figures of crime incidents in Bihar it is much lower than the other states,” IANS quoted him as saying. However, the Opposition lashed out at the government and claimed the incident showed “democracy is in danger in Bihar”. “Criminals are roaming freely while innocent citizens, including journalists, and even police personnel are being killed in Bihar,” alleged state BJP president Samrat Choudhary. “What has happened in Araria is, indeed, tragic. But such incidents have become the norm since the ‘ghamandia’ (arrogant) Mahagathbandhan, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, formed the government in the state,” said the BJP leader whose party shared power in the stage till a year ago. Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan, who has realigned with the BJP-led NDA, said, “Nitish Kumar and his allies keep shouting that democracy is under attack in Bihar. But they are unable to protect the fourth estate.” Referring to the killing of a police officer recently in Samastipur, Paswan said, “The common Bihari gave up all hopes from Nitish Kumar long back. But his government cannot protect even the police and the press.” With inputs from agencies