List of journalists killed in India


This is a list of journalists killed in India
No.DateNameMedia outletPlaceSummaryReferences
13 January 1992Ram Singh BilingAzdi Awaz, Daily AjitAzamgarh, PunjabBiling, a correspondent based in Amargarh for two newspapers in Punjab, namely Azdi Awaz and Daily Ajit, was reportedly apprehended by the police while traveling by bus to Jalandhar. Although police officials denied his arrest or custody, Biling, who was also a human rights activist, was reportedly seen in custody by village elders. It is believed that he died in police custody.
227 February 1992Bakshi Tirath SinghHind SamacharDhuri, PunjabSingh was a reporter for the Punjabi newspaper Hind Samachar, based in Dhuri, India. He was assassinated by unidentified individuals. The reason behind the attack remains uncertain.
318 May 1992M.L. ManchandaAll India RadioPatiala, PunjabOn 18 May 1992, M.L. Manchanda, the director of the All India Radio station located in Patiala, was abducted by members of the militant organization Babbar Khalsa. This group demanded that the electronic media adhere to a specific code of conduct, which included broadcasting in the local Punjabi language instead of Hindi. Despite negotiations for Mr. Manchanda’s release, the government failed to comply with Babbar Khalsa’s demands within the deadline set by the group. Consequently, on 27 May 1992, the militants beheaded Mr. Manchanda, a journalist, in a brutal act that shocked the nation.
431 January 1993Bhola Nath MasoomHind SamacharRajpuraMasoom, a journalist associated with Hind Samachar and serving as the president of the Punjab and Chandigarh Journalist's Council, was fatally shot by two suspected militants in the vicinity of his residence located in Rajpura, India. The incident occurred on an unspecified date, and Masoom succumbed to his injuries on the same day.
522 May 1993Dinesh PathakResident editor of Sandesh newspaper in Baroda.VadodaraRaju Risaldar, accused of ordering the killing, was later shot dead by Gujarat Police in the Vadodara encounter.
629 August 1994Ghulam Mohammad LoneFreelanceKangan, KashmirLone, a newspaper salesman and freelance journalist who had received death threats for his coverage of troop movements in Kashmir, was shot and killed along with his seven-year-old son by a group of masked gunmen, with the Srinagar police attributing the killings to Kashmiri separatists.
710 September 1995Mushtaq AliAgence France-Presse and Asian News InternationalSrinagarOn September 7, a letter bomb addressed to a journalist in Srinagar exploded in the hands of Ali, a photographer for Agence France-Presse and a camera operator for Asian News International, causing severe injuries that led to his death three days later.
810 April 1996Ghulam Rasool SheikhRehnuma-e-Kashmir and Saffron TimesPamporeThe death of Sheikh, the editor of Rehnuma-e-Kashmir and Saffron Times, who had reported on violence in Pampore, and whose body was found floating in Kashmir's Jhelum River, has been attributed by his family members to a militia group allegedly supported by Indian state security forces, which had reportedly kidnapped him in March.
917 May 1996Parag Kumar DasAsomiya PratidinAssamParag Kumar Das, editor-in-chief of the Asomiya Pratidin and a leading voice for self-rule for Assam who had continued reporting on separatist perspectives despite previous arrests, was assassinated in Guwahati while picking up his son from school; his colleagues believe that his recent interview with the leader of the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam may have led to his assassination by a splinter group, and he was also known for his work monitoring human rights abuses by the army and counterinsurgency forces against the Assamese.
101 January 1997Altaf Ahmed FaktooDoordarshan TVSrinagarFaktoo, a journalist and news anchor for the state-owned Doordarshan television station in Srinagar, Kashmir, was assassinated by militant separatists who had previously threatened him due to his pro-government news reporting and work with the state-owned broadcast media; he was also previously kidnapped and detained by a militant group in 1994.
1116 March 1997Saidan ShafiDoordarshan TVSrinagarShafi, a reporter for Doordarshan TV, was killed in an ambush in Srinagar, Kashmir while working on two news programs, "Kashmir File" and "Eyewitness," with his personal security guard also being fatally shot; his reporting on "Kashmir File" that criticized militant Kashmiri separatists had reportedly led to threats from separatists who accused him of biased reporting.
1219 November 1997S. Gangadhara RajuEenadu TelevisionHyderabadA car bomb explosion outside Rama Naidu Studios in Hyderabad killed five members of a television crew, including Gangadhara Raju, an E-TV cameraman, Jagadish Babu, a producer for private channel E-TV, Srinivas Rao and S. Krishna, assistant cameramen for E-TV, and Raja Sekhar, an assistant for E-TV, along with their driver and at least 17 others, while covering the making of a film; the attack is believed to have been politically motivated, targeting the film's producer, Paritala Ravi, a former guerrilla leader and member of the governing Telugu Desam party.
1319 November 1997S. KrishnaEenadu TelevisionHyderabadA car bomb explosion outside Rama Naidu Studios in Hyderabad killed five members of a television crew, including Gangadhara Raju, an E-TV cameraman, Jagadish Babu, a producer for private channel E-TV, Srinivas Rao and S. Krishna, assistant cameramen for E-TV, and Raja Sekhar, an assistant for E-TV, along with their driver and at least 17 others, while covering the making of a film; the attack is believed to have been politically motivated, targeting the film's producer, Paritala Ravi, a former guerrilla leader and member of the governing Telugu Desam party.
1419 November 1997G. Raja SekharEenadu TelevisionHyderabadA car bomb explosion outside Rama Naidu Studios in Hyderabad killed five members of a television crew, including Gangadhara Raju, an E-TV cameraman, Jagadish Babu, a producer for private channel E-TV, Srinivas Rao and S. Krishna, assistant cameramen for E-TV, and Raja Sekhar, an assistant for E-TV, along with their driver and at least 17 others, while covering the making of a film; the attack is believed to have been politically motivated, targeting the film's producer, Paritala Ravi, a former guerrilla leader and member of the governing Telugu Desam party.
1519 November 1997Jagadish BabuEenadu TelevisionHyderabadA car bomb explosion outside Rama Naidu Studios in Hyderabad killed five members of a television crew, including Gangadhara Raju, an E-TV cameraman, Jagadish Babu, a producer for private channel E-TV, Srinivas Rao and S. Krishna, assistant cameramen for E-TV, and Raja Sekhar, an assistant for E-TV, along with their driver and at least 17 others, while covering the making of a film; the attack is believed to have been politically motivated, targeting the film's producer, Paritala Ravi, a former guerrilla leader and member of the governing Telugu Desam party.
1619 November 1997P. Srinivas RaoEenadu TelevisionHyderabadA car bomb explosion outside Rama Naidu Studios in Hyderabad killed five members of a television crew, including Gangadhara Raju, an E-TV cameraman, Jagadish Babu, a producer for private channel E-TV, Srinivas Rao and S. Krishna, assistant cameramen for E-TV, and Raja Sekhar, an assistant for E-TV, along with their driver and at least 17 others, while covering the making of a film; the attack is believed to have been politically motivated, targeting the film's producer, Paritala Ravi, a former guerrilla leader and member of the governing Telugu Desam party.
1727 February 1999Shivani BhatnagarThe Indian ExpressNew DelhiBhatnagar, a special correspondent for the Indian Express, was found dead in her apartment in East Delhi. Bhatnagar was strangled and stabbed in the neck and abdomen. While her killers were not identified, early reports speculated that they may have been seeking certain incriminating documents, although police did not find robbery to be a likely motive.
1813 March 1999Irfan HussainOutlookNew DelhiHussain, a cartoonist for Outlook magazine, was found dead on the side of a highway in Delhi with his hands and feet bound, throat slit, and having been stabbed 28 times and strangled. His murder was allegedly linked to his satirical cartoons mocking leaders of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and a threatening phone call from someone claiming to be a member of the Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist political organization, was reportedly made to the wife of another cartoonist prior to Hussain's murder.
1910 October 1999N. A. LalruhluShanManipurLalruhlu, an editor of the Hmar-language newspaper Shan, and three others were killed in an attack by suspected separatist militants in Manipur, India. The Hmar Revolutionary Front claimed responsibility for the killings, stating that Lalruhlu was not targeted for his journalism, but because of his involvement with a rival militant group, highlighting the ongoing separatist and ethnic violence in the region.
2018 March 2000Adhir RaiFreelanceDeoghar, JharkhandRai was a freelance journalist and president of the Deoghar Working Journalists Union, who was murdered while on assignment. The Hindu, an English-language newspaper, reported on the incident and also mentioned that Rai was a lecturer at a local college.
2131 July 2000V. SelvarajNakkeeranPerambalur, Tamil NaduSelvaraj, a journalist for the Tamil-language biweekly Nakkeeran, was killed by a group of about a dozen men in his hometown of Perambalur, Tamil Nadu. He suffered over 20 serious wounds from knives and sickles, and his death may have been related to his reporting on government corruption in Tiruchi. The Crime Branch Central Investigation Department was investigating the case, but no major developments had been reported by the end of the year.
2210 August 2000Pradeep BhatiaHindustan TimesSrinagarIn August 2000, a bomb attack in the Kashmir capital, Srinagar killed at least 12 people, including Bhatia, a photographer for The Hindustan Times, and injured six other journalists. Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, a militant Kashmiri separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack targeting Indian security forces.
2320 August 2000Thounaojam Brajamani SinghManipur NewsImphalBrajamani, the founder of Manipur News and a well-known journalist in Manipur State, India, was assassinated in the capital city of Imphal while riding his scooter home. He was shot twice in the back of the head by two men who forced him to stop on the road, according to sources.
2430 July 2001Moolchand YadavFreelancerJhansiYadav was a freelance reporter who frequently wrote for Hindi-language newspapers such as Jansatta and Punjab Kesari. He was assassinated on a Jhansi street in Uttar Pradesh allegedly due to his investigative reporting on local corruption that angered two influential landowners, according to colleagues.
2514 April 2002Paritosh PandeyJansatta ExpressLucknowIn April 2002, crime reporter Pandey, who worked for the Hindi-language daily Jansatta Express, was shot and killed at his home in Lucknow. While it is likely that Pandey was targeted due to his reporting on criminal gangs, the specific motive behind his murder remains unclear.
2613 October 2002Yambem Meghajit SinghNortheast VisionImphalIn the city of Imphal, located in India's conflict-ridden Northeast region, Meghajit, a chief correspondent for Northeast Vision, was found dead in his home after being beaten with bamboo sticks and shot in the head. While no group has claimed responsibility for the murder, some journalists speculate that it may have been related to Meghajit's involvement in the semiprecious stone trade.
2721 November 2002Ram Chander ChhatrapatiPoora SachSirsa, HaryanaChaterpatti, an editor of Hindi-language newspaper Poora Sach, died from injuries sustained in an assassination attempt in Sirsa, Haryana on October 24, 2016. The alleged gunman and a leader of the Sirsa-based religious sect Dera Sacha Sauda were among three suspects arrested, with officials stating that members of the group ordered Chaterpatti’s murder due to the journalist’s reporting on sexual abuse and other crimes allegedly committed at the group’s compound. In January 2019, a special court in Haryana convicted four individuals of Chaterpatti's murder and criminal conspiracy, sentencing them each to life imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 rupees.
2821 February 2004Veeraboina YadagiriAndhra PrabhaMedak, Telangana Murdered for investigating the illegal sale of home-brewed liquor.
2920 April 2004Aasia JeelaniFreelanceKashmirKilled in landmine explosion by the militants of the Kashmir region.
306 January 2006Prahlad GoalaAsomiya KhabarGolaghat, AssamMurdered after writing multiple articles on timber smuggling.
311 April 2006Mohammed MuslimuddinAsomiya PratidinBarpukhuri, AssamMurdered by assailants after being targeted for writing about illegal drug trade that linked local influential figures and politicians.
3211 May 2008Ashok SodhiDaily ExcelsiorSamba district, Jammu and KashmirKilled in crossfire between militants and security forces in Samba, close to the Line of Control.
3324 March 2009Anil MazumdarAji (Assamese Daily)Tingkhong, AssamKilled by militants for supporting peace talks between the separatist guerrilla group, United Liberation Front of Asom.
3420 July 2010Vijay Pratap SinghIndian ExpressAllahabad, Uttar PradeshKilled in a blast outside Nand Gopal Gupta's house. Two Samajwadi Party members were arrested including former-MLA Vijay Mishra.
3511 June 2011Jyotirmoy DeyMid-DayPowai, MumbaiKilled by multiple men on motorcycles, it may have be related to his reporting of the oil mafia. He had also reported about Chhota Rajan.
367 September 2013Rajesh VermaIBN7Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh
376 December 2013Sai ReddyDeshbandhuBijapur district
3827 May 2014Tarun Kumar AcharyaSambad and Kanak TVKhallikote, Ganjam district, Odisha
3926 November 2014M. V. N. ShankarAndhra PrabhaChilakaluripet, Andhra Pradesh
408 June 2015Jagendra SinghFreelanceShahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh
4120 June 2015Sandeep KothariFreelanceKatangi, Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh
4213 August 2015Sanjay PathakUnited News of IndiaFaridpur district, Uttar Pradesh
4330 August 2015M M KalburgiDharwad, Karnataka
443 October 2015Hemant YadavTV24Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh
4513 February 2016Karun MisraJansandesh TimesSultanpur, Uttar Pradesh
4613 May 2016Rajdev RanjanHindustanSiwan, Bihar
4723 August 2016Kishore DaveJai HindJunagadh, Gujarat
485 September 2017Gauri LankeshGauri Lankesh PatrikeBengaluru, KarnatakaGauri Lankesh, a prominent Indian journalist, was shot dead in Bangalore in 2017. She was known for her criticism of Hindu nationalist politics. Lankesh was shot multiple times outside her home.
4921 September 2017Santanu BhowmikChannel DinraatMandwi/Mandai, Tripura
5024 September 2017KJ SinghMohali, Punjab
5121 November 2017Sudip Datta BhaumikBengali language newspaper Syandan Patrika and local television station News VanguardBodhjung Nagar, Tripura
5225 March 2018Navin NishchalDainik BhaskarBhojpur district, Bihar
5314 June 2018Shujaat BukhariEditor, Rising KashmirSrinagar
5429 October 2018Chandan TiwariReporter, AjPathalgada, Chatra, Jharkhand
5519 June 2020Shubham Mani TripathiReporter, Kampu MailUnnao, Uttar PradeshDied on the spot after being shot six times, three of them in the head. Just before death said he feared he could be killed because of his investigations into land expropriations linked to illegal sand mining.
568 November 2020Isravel MosesReporter at Tamizhan TVChennai, Tamil NaduIsravel Moses was hacked to death with machetes by alleged drug dealers in the Chennai suburb of Kundrathur after his neighbors identified him as a journalist. The murder occurred a week after he reported on the local sale of cannabis and associated illegal encroachments of land.
5728 November 2020Rakesh SinghReporter with Hindi language local daily newspaper Rashtriya Swaroop.Balrampur district, Uttar PradeshBurned to death with his friend after assailants set fire to his village house which fall under the jurisdiction of the Kotwali Dehat police station in the Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The UP state government has since promised to offer his wife a job.
5813 June 2021Sulabh SrivastavaABP NewsPratapgarh, Uttar PradeshFamily members allege foul play; body found half naked with several injury marks after an expose of local liquor mafia.
598 August 2021Chenna KesavaluReporter at the local Telugu news channel .Nandyal, Kurnool District, Andhra PradeshStabbed to death by a local police officer after Kesavalu exposed his connections with gutka smuggling rings.
603 October 2021Raman KashyapReporter, Sadhna Prime News TVLakhimpur Kheri, Uttar PradeshSuccumbed to injuries after a convoy of cars drove into a crowd of protestors at the 2021 Farmer's Protests.
6112 November 2021Budhinath Jha/ Avinash JhaIndependent journalist for the Facebook news channel, .Madhubani district, BiharBurnt body discovered by the roadside after he went missing the previous day, presumed to be abducted. He had been reporting on illegal 'fake' clinics operating in the north-east.
6210 August 2021Manish Kumar SinghSudarshan TVMathlohiar Gaddi Tola, East Champaran District, BiharMutilated & decomposed body discovered three days after he went missing; the killer's had removed Singh's eyes. Singh's father, also a journalist, suspected he may have been targeted by local criminals, while the police suspected two of his journalist friends.
631 January 2025Mukesh ChandrakarIndependent Journalist for the YouTube news channel .Bijapur, ChhattisgarhDecomposed body discovered three days after Chandrakar went missing on 1 January 2024 from the septic tank of three construction contractors; Chandrakar had earlier exposed the contractors for corruption.