Patna, May 14 (Agencies) : Senior journalist and bureau chief of leading Hindi daily ‘Hindustan’ was shot dead in Siwan on Friday evening.

The journalist, Rajdeo Ranjan, was returning home on his two-wheeler around 8pm when some unidentified miscreants fired at him. Ranjan sustained bullet injuries in his head and died while he was being rushed to the hospital.

The Superintendent of Police said the motive behind the murder was yet to be ascertained.

Ranjan has been writing for a long time against law-breakers of the area.Reacting to the murder, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussaion said while Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is touring Varanasi, the fourth estate is "in danger" in his state.

"This is not jungle raj. This is maha jungle raj...sad to know about his killing, Rajdeo was a fearless journalist," he tweeted.

Expressing shock over the incident, Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey said: “We have been saying all along that criminals in Bihar are having a field day. Unfortunately, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, instead of focusing on law and order in the state, has been busy spreading his tentacles outside Bihar. We demand immediate identification of culprits and their arrest.”

This is the second such murder incident in Bihar in less than a week. On Saturday last, 19-year-old Aditya was shot dead in Gaya by Rocky Yadav, son of JD(U) MLC Manorma Devi, for overtaking his car.

Another killed in J’khand

A journalist was shot dead by miscreants in Dewaria, the police said on Friday, reports PTI from Chatra, Jharkhand.

Akhilesh Pratap Singh (35), who worked for a news channel, was gunned down near panchayat secretariat on Thursday night, a police officer said, adding that a bandh was observed in Chatra in protest.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das condemned the incident and asked DGP D K Pandey to arrest the culprits at the earliest.