Unidentified assailants shot dead a local journalist, Sushil Pathak (36), at Bilashpur, the judicial capital of Chhattisgarh, nearly 120 km from here early on Monday morning.
According to the police, the incident took place when Pathak, who was working as a senior sub-editor with the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, was returning home at around 2.30 am after his late-night shift ended.
He was reportedly walking down to his house after parking his car at a distance, when the miscreants fired at him from close range. A local journalist spotted him lying in a pool of blood and informed his family members.
Later, he was rushed to the nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on admission, the police said. He is survived by his widow and two children.
The police said the assailants seemed to have fired four rounds on his head and chest. At least four empty cartridges were recovered from the crime spot.
“We are working on some clues, but no one has been arrested so far. Separate teams of policemen have been sent to different places to arrest the killers,” Bilashpur district superintendent of police Jayant Thorat told this newspaper.
The incident sparked tension in the town with the local media men along with senior citizens and political leaders of all parties staging a demonstration in front of the SP’s office demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.