IN YET ANOTHER SHOCKING INCIDENT, PANKAJ MISHRA WAS SHOT BY TWO ASSAILANTS WHO CAME ON THE BIKE AND FIRED TWO ROUNDS ON HIM AND FLED FROM SCENE. THIS INCIDENT OF THE ATTACK ON A JOURNALIST TOOK PLACE JUST TWO DAYS AFTER GAURI LANKESH WAS SHOT DEAD BY TWO ASSAILANTS NEAR PALANWA PUL UNDER BANSI POLICE STATION IN ARWAL DISTRICT, BANGALORE. THE ASSAILANTS ALSO ROBBED RUPEES 1 LAKH FROM JOURNALIST MISHRA.
A journalist working with Rashtriya Sahara, Pankaj Mishra, was shot at in Bihar’s Arwal District. He said that he was attacked by men close to a politician from ruling JD(U). Pankaj Mishra is under treatment at the Patna Medical College. He has sustained wounds on his back and hand. One of the two alleged attackers, Kundan Mahto, has been arrested. The other accomplice Ambika Mahto is still on the run. The police said Kundan Mahto had served a six-month jail for another robbery. He had been released recently on bail.
Pankaj Mishra had been carrying Rs. 1 lakh in cash which he had withdrawn from the bank when he was ambushed. The attackers had blocked the road and when Mr. Mishra stopped his bike, they held him at gunpoint and tried to rob him, the police said. When he resisted, they opened fire and a bullet grazed his back.
Mananjay Sharma, the chief of the Congress in Arwal, said Mr. Mishra was also a leader of the local party unit. He also worked as a collection agent for the local branch of a state-run bank and runs a help center in the village, which helps people with various kinds of paperwork.
Pankaj Mishra said that he knew the men who attacked him. Kundan Mahto is the son of Anant Kumar Verma, the personal assistant of JD(U) legislator from Kurtha Satyadeo Singh.
Confirming that Anant Kumar Verma is among his staff, the legislator said the law “will take its course”. “Verma himself is in a state of shock… But no one is trying to save anyone and you can see he (Kundan Mahto) was immediately arrested. But what’s the fault of my PA?” Mr. Singh added.
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SOURCE: NDTV | TIMES OF INDIA
