Lucknow: Days after purportedly receiving threats for writing about the brother of a district unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Party allegedly assaulting the head of a Brahmin association, a journalist working for a news channel in Uttar Pradesh was allegedly shot at twice by unknown assailants outside his office Sunday.
Devendra Khare, who works as the Jaunpur district correspondent for the news channel News1India, said he received two bullet injuries — one in his stomach and the other in his hand — and is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital. He confirmed his condition was stable.
Speaking to ThePrint, Khare accused Rituraj Singh, brother of BJP’s Jaunpur unit president Pushpraj Singh, of orchestrating the attack, alleging that Rituraj’s associates had threatened him to not report about an alleged attack on Gorakhpur-based Rajendra Tripathi, national president of the Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Mahasabha.
“A few days back, I had reported on the attack on Rajendra Tripathi, head of the Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Mahasabha being assaulted while returning from Mirzapur’s Vindhyachal temple with his family. Rituraj Singh’s father Diwakar Singh was travelling in his car when the vehicle hit Tripathi’s car from behind, near Sipah police chowki. Following the incident, an argument ensued between Tripathi’s family and Rituraj and the latter assaulted Tripathi. A video of the incident had gone viral (on Whatsapp groups in Jaunpur). I had reported on that incident,” claimed Khare, while talking to ThePrint.
According to Rajendra’s son, Vinay Tiwari, the incident happened on 15 February.
“Following the incident, Rituraj, alias Chhotu, and his associates threatened and assaulted my father. Our supporters protested in all the districts of the state and gave memorandums to the DM’s office in every district. The local police initially did not take action on our complaint and an FIR was lodged in the case nine days after the incident,” he said.
Khare has alleged that following his report on the alleged assault on Tiwari, “on Shivratri (February 18), two people close to Rituraj Singh arrived at my office and threatened me to not report further on the case”. Sunday’s alleged attack came roughly a week later.
Talking to the media about the Sunday’s incident, Jaunpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) said, “We had received information that Devendra Khare was attacked by someone. He has been admitted to a hospital immediately. Our SP (City) and CO (City) and I myself have inspected the spot and we have spoken to the victim. Teams have been deployed to take action to work out the case. Strict action will be taken against those behind the incident.”
Pushpraj Singh, however, dismissed allegations against his brother as an act of conspiracy by his detractors.
“This is a big conspiracy against me. I am the district president of BJP. My detractors are unable to find any reason to target me and are hence, finding ways to target my family. I have faith in Yogi ji (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) and the government,” he said.
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‘Faces covered with gamchha’
In his complaint to the Line Bazaar police station in Jaunpur, Khare has alleged that he and some of his friends were sitting outside his office around 7.30pm Sunday, when two people on a Pulsar arrived outside the building.
An FIR has been registered against Rituraj Singh and two other unknown people under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-b (criminal conspiracy), based on Khare’s complaint. ThePrint has a copy of the FIR.
“Their faces were covered with gamchhas (cloth) and they arrived on a black Pulsar and fired at me twice with an intention to kill me. I was shot at in the stomach and right hand. I ran from the spot to save my life. I am a journalist and I had published a story about an attack on the national president of Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Mahasabha for which I was being pressured by Rituraj Singh, but I didn’t succumb to their pressure. They threatened to kill me and I suspect that these persons are behind this life threatening attack on me,” states the FIR.
While talking to ThePrint, Khare also alleged Rituraj has a criminal past and that several cases have been registered against him.
In 2013, Rituraj had been arrested by Lucknow police in connection with a case registered by Gautam Budh Nagar police for issuing threats to a Noida-based builder. He is also believed to have been a part of slain gangster Munna Bajrangi’s group.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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