Death of Journalist Injured in Assassination Bid

IFJ Mourns Death of Journalist Injured in Assassination Bid in India

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) deeply mourns the death of Vijay Pratap Singh, senior reporter for the Indian Express, after he was injured in an assassination attempt on a local politician in Allahabad city in northern India.

Vijay Pratap was visiting a cabinet minister of Uttar Pradesh state on July 12. He had just stepped out of the minister’s residence, in the minister’s company, when a bomb was detonated.

One among several injured, Vijay Pratap was transferred the following day at the initiative of his newspaper to Delhi’s Army Hospital. He died on July 20, ten days short of his thirty-ninth birthday. He is survived by his wife Shashi, a five-year-old son and a 10-month-old daughter.

Vijay Pratap had earned a name for himself with some incisive reporting on social and political issues, which often featured on the front page of the nationally circulated editions of the Indian Express.

“The IFJ extends its deepest condolences to Vijay Pratap’s family and to his professional colleagues for this terrible tragedy,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“Vijay Pratap’s death is a serious loss for journalism and shows how danger often lurks for conscientious professionals in the most unforeseen quarters.”

ENDS

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