Tripura journalist Shantanu Bhowmick killed: Amnesty calls it another 'sickening assault' on freedom of expression

New Delhi:  The killing of journalist Shantanu Bhowmick in Tripura is another “sickening assault” on freedom of expression, Amnesty international India said on Friday. Killing of journalists cannot become the order of the day and the state governments must do everything in their capacity to prevent scribes from becoming targets for their viewpoints or affiliations, the rights body said. [caption id=“attachment_4072193” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Tripura journalist Shantanu Bhowmick’s mother weeps over his body in Agartala. Getty Images[/caption] “Shantanu Bhowmick’s gruesome murder again exposes the vulnerability of journalists working in difficult situations. The perpetrators must be brought to justice, if more attacks on journalists are to be prevented,” Arijit Sen, programme Manager, Amnesty India, said. Bhowmick, who worked with a TV channel in Agartala, was covering an agitation by the indigenous people’s front of Tripura in Mandai area of West Tripura on 20 September when he was hit from behind and abducted. Later, the scribe was found with serious stab injuries and rushed to Agartala Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. “The killing of 28-year-old journalist Shantanu Bhowmick in the course of his work in Mandai, Tripura, is another sickening assault on freedom of expression,” Amnesty said. Earlier this month, journalist Gauri Lankesh was killed outside her home in Bengaluru. According to the committee to protect journalists, there have been no convictions in any of the 27 cases of journalists killed for their work in India since 1992, Amnesty said.