Journalists Killed in 2017 - Motive Confirmed: Shantanu Bhowmik
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 31 December 2017 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Killed in 2017 - Motive Confirmed: Shantanu Bhowmik, 31 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a4e33974.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Dinraat | Killed in West Tripura district, India | September 20, 2017
| Job: | Broadcast Reporter |
| Medium: | Television |
| Beats Covered: | Politics |
| Gender: | Male |
| Local or Foreign: | Local |
| Freelance: | No |
| Type of Death: | Dangerous Assignment |
| Suspected Source of Fire: | Mob Violence |
| Impunity: | |
| Taken Captive: | |
| Tortured: | |
| Threatened: | |
Shantanu Bhowmik, a reporter for the local Bengali-language news channel Dinraat, was beaten to death on September 20, 2017, while he covered clashes between members of the separatist Indigenous People's Front of Tripura and the ruling Tripura Rajya Upajati Ganamukti Parishad party in the northeastern Tripura state near the border with Bangladesh, according to media reports.
A mob used sticks to hit him on his head and legs, according to a report in the English-language Indian Express that quoted an unnamed journalist who was also covering the clashes.
According to the Indian Express, Bhowmik was taking pictures with his mobile phone when members of the crowd attacked him. Swapan Chakraborty, an editor at Dinraat, told CPJ that the last image the station received from Bhowmik was sent at 1:15 p.m.
Later that day, the police found Bhowmik's body near a stadium, according to media reports.
Akhil Kumar Shukla, director general of Tripura state police said that three people were arrested and are being held in police custody on court order in relation to the journalist's death, according to a September 28, 2017 report in The Times of India.
When CPJ spoke with Chakraborty in early December 2017, the editor said that four people were now in custody in relation to Bhowmik's death. The editor described the suspects as belonging to or being supporters of the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura, and he said no charges had been filed.
