Amidst anger, slain Tripura journalist cremated

Agartala, Nov 22 (IANS) Journalist Sudip Datta Bhowmik, who was shot dead by a trooper in Tripura, was cremated on Wednesday, the final rites attended by hundreds of journalists and other professionals.

Bhowmik's cremation took place at Battala.

Earlier, after paying rich tributes at the Agartala Press Club and other media offices, a silent rally of journalists and other professionals was taken out in the city with the body of the 50-year-old journalist.

According to police, Tripura State Rifles (TSR) Second Battalion Rifleman Nandu Kumar Reang on Tuesday shot dead Datta Bhowmik, 50, at Radha Kishore Nagar, 25 km from Agartala.

Reang was the bodyguard of Second Battalion Commandant Tapan Debbarma. The slain journalist had gone to meet Debbarma at the battalion headquarters.

Police have arrested both the trooper and the Commandant. Chief Judicial Magistrate Sharmistha Mukherjee sent them to 10-days police custody, West District police chief Abhijit Saptarshi told IANS.

While the cortege was moving towards the crematorium ground, a large group of agitated journalists strayed from the procession and staged a demonstration in front of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's official residence.

As a mark of protest, the journalists took off the safety jackets given them earlier by the police and set those on fire. The media persons also raised slogans against the Chief Minister as well as the TSR.

Security around Sarkar's residence has been beefed up.