Patna: The Bihar government, which has assured to protect the fourth pillar of democracy in wake of the killing of a journalist in Siwan, faced yet another embarrassing moment on Sunday after a journalist with the leading Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar was abducted by a local contractor.
The journalist, Hemant Thakur, was abducted from his home in Bihar’s Araria district for not writing a news report in the favour of the contractor, Haji Laddan.
According to reports, Laddan abducted Thakur and took him to Sadar Hospital where he first thrashed the journalist and then locked him inside a room. The contractor also gave a patient a knife and told him to kill Thakur if he tried to escape.
Thakur was rescued by the hospital staff after he screamed for help.
In the past, several incidents, where journalists have been murdered or received death threats, have been recorded in Bihar. Last week, Rajesh Singh, a journalist with a Hindi daily, lodged an FIR at the Laheri police station against Janata Dal (United) MLC Hira Vind after receiving death threats.
42-year-old Rajdeo Ranjan was shot dead by criminals near the Siwan railway station, earlier in May.
Two bullets were fired at the Siwan bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan that hit him on his head and neck.
