Newspapers in Tripura leave edit column blank in protest against journalist's killing

Agartala: Majority of newspapers in Tripura leave space for editorials blank to protest against killing of journalist Sudip Datta Bhowmik.

This comes a day after Commandant of 2nd Tripura State Rifles Tapan Debbarma was arrested on Tuesday night in connection with Journalist Sudip's alleged murder case.

However, shocked Tripura journalists on Wednesday expressed disappointment with national media for showing "lack of interests" in the killing of journalists in the northeast.

Sujit Chakraborty, eminent journalist and ex-secretary of Agartala Press Club, said, "The killing of Sudip didn't get prominent coverage by the national media. Except some small news items, they ignored the heinous crime. Had it happened in major cities, it would have got wider publicity by both national print and electronic media."

Sudip Datta Bhowmik was allegedly shot dead on Tuesday inside the battalion headquarters of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) in RK Nagar.

"Sudip's was a cold-blooded murder. He was killed inside the Circle Officer's room," said Bhowmik's brother.

Another journalist, Gauri Lankesh, was shot dead point blank outside her residence on the outskirts of Bengaluru, Karnataka on September 6, triggering protests in many parts of the country. It was said Lankesh was targetted for her work against right-wing Hindu extremism.