Three journalists killed in 24 hours highlights India press freedom problem, watchdog groups warn

One was reporting on police corruption while the others were in an argument with a local politician at the time of their deaths

An Indian journalist holds a placard during a protest near the Indian parliament over the murder of journalists on 27 March 2018. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Three Indian journalists have been killed in deliberate hit-and-run accidents and their deaths highlight an issue with freedom of the press in the world's largest democracy, according to watchdog groups.

Sandeep Sharma in Madhya Pradesh state, and Navin Nischal and Vijay Singh in Bihar state were all killed within the span of 24 hours. The incidents appeared to be unrelated though Mr Sharma had been investigating a controversial story at the time of his death and Mr Nischal and Mr Singh had just gotten into an argument with a local politician after filing a story.

Their deaths are illustrative of a problem the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had highlighted in a 2017 report on the safety of the press around the world. Since the early 1990s, 27 journalists have been killed “with complete impunity” in India. The group is also investigating the deaths of 25 other reporters to see if there is a link between their murders and reporting work.

The problem is particularly fraught for non-English language reporters outside of major cities in the world’s largest democracy.

Six journalists have been killed since the report was issued. Most notably was Gauri Lankesh, a veteran reporter for a Kannada-language newspaper. She was fatally shot just outside of her home in the southern city of Bangalore in September 2017 after publishing reports critical of Hindu extremists. A suspect who is believed by police to be a Hindu nationalist has been arrested in the case.

Mohammad Harsu, a village chief in Bihar, allegedly drove a vehicle that ran over the motorbike both Mr Nischal and Mr Singh were riding. He has been arrested by local police.

Rakesh Kumar Singh, bureau chief of the pair’s newspaper Dainik Bhaskar, said they had just finished an assignment of a local Hindu festival when they got into an argument with Mr Harsu.

Mr Harsu “used to pressure local journalists to write in his favour and had lots of grudges against these two journalists,” said Mr Singh. He added that “these local dons are the big figures. If you don’t greet them with a smile you get four slaps. They want you to fear them”.

Mr Sharma, 36, had been investigating the “sand mafia,” as The Guardian reported. He had just finished an undercover assignment about an allegedly corrupt police official in Madhya Pradesh who had reportedly agreed to a accept a Rs 25,000 (£272) monthly bribe in exchange for allowing sand mining in a government-protected alligator sanctuary.

Sand is an increasingly hot commodity as building material in India as the country rapidly urbanises and grows. “The amount of sand used for construction in India has tripled since 2000 by some estimates and supplies around major cities have been depleted,” the newspaper reported.

The side effects of sand dredging, however, can be severely damaging to riverbeds and coastlines amid drier-than-normal rainy seasons and suffering fishing communities. Reporters Without Borders also noted that those “who cover India’s sand mafia are often the victims of violent reprisals”. In a statement, the group called Mr Sharma’s death a “terrible warning to journalists”.

The footage of his death was caught on CCTV cameras as his motorbike was crushed by a truck in Bhind district, about 300 miles (500 km) from the state capital Bhopal.

Mr Sharma had recently sought police protection for his previous reporting about alleged corruption in the state’s police departments and the incident took place just metres away from the local police station.

The suspected driver has been arrested the truck has been seized. A state official has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the matter as well after the CCTV footage was made public.

After his illegal sand mining report, “he was getting lots of threats from people,” Rizwan Ahmad Siddiqui, editor-in-chief of local television news station News World where Mr Sharma was a stringer, told The Guardian.

“He was denied police protection and the police asked for the camera he had used to conduct the sting. They took the original recording and never gave it back,” he said.

Mr Siddiqui also called on the CBI to investigate the substance of Mr Sharma’s sand mining reports in the protected land.

As The Wire news outlet reported: “In 2016, the International Federation of Journalists listed India as the eighth most dangerous country for journalists”.

At the time of Ms Lankesh’s death Reporters Without Borders said that “journalists are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by the most radical nationalists, who vilify them and even threaten physical reprisals”.