RMNP Condemns the killing of journalist Anjum Munir Raja in Rawalpindi

Rural Media Network Pakistan (RMNP) has condemned the killing of a subeditor working for a local daily Urdu newspaper Qaumi Pukar in Islamabad and demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of perpetrators.According to details journalist Anjum Munir Raja, 40 Anjum Muneer Raja, 40, was returning home after work at Urdu newspaper Qaumi Pukaar when unknown attackers riding a motorcycle opened fire on him at Bank Road Rawalpindi in the jurisdiction of Civil Lines police station, before midnight (3rd March). The site of the incident is minutes away from GHQ, the Pakistani military’s national headquarters.
Police says that jiurnalist Anjum Raja, who was riding a motorcycle as well, was shot six times in the neck, torso and head and died on the spot. The assailants fled after the attack.
A first information report (FIR) of the incident has been registered on a complaint of the victim’s maternal uncle and the police is investigating the case as an incident of targeted killing. Raja, who also worked as a school teacher, is survived by his wife and a five-year-old son.After being alerted about the incident, police reached the site and shifted the victim’s body to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital. The body was handed over to the relatives after a postmortem.
DSP Civil Lines Kazim Naqvi told Dawn News TV that police found six spent bullet casings fired from a 9mm pistol from the scene. The manner in which the murder was carried out indicated that it was an incident of targeted killing, he said.
The officer said initial investigation suggested that the killing could be a result of some personal enmity but that police was probing the incident from all angles. Because Bank Road is a sensitive area where several hotels and offices are located in addition to GHQ, police have written to the army to obtain CCTV footage of the killing. The investigation will proceed further once the footage is received.
While speaking to DawnNewsTV, Raja’s uncle Tariq Mehmood said that his nephew did not have a personal enmity with anyone. Terming the killing an incident of “terrorism”, he expressed shock that Raja was murdered in such a highly secured area.
He said Raja was father to a five-year-old boy and used to teach at a school in the mornings and worked as a subeditor for the Islamabad-based newspaper in the evenings.
President RMNP Ehsan Ahmed Sehar condemned Raja’s murder and demanded the immediate arrest of the attackers .He urged pakistan government to create a safe working environment for journalists by punishing the killers of journalists.”
Raja is the first journalist killed in Pakistan in 2018. According to RMNP Monitoring , Pakistan recorded the killing of seven journalists in 2017.
Source. RMNP/ Dawn TV