Journalist Rohit Biswal, who covered Maoist rebels, was killed in a bombing

Biswal, who lived in Madanpur-Rampur in Kalahandi district, had traveled to the area of Damba Karlakhunta because of posters urging local residents to boycott the coming three-tier Panchayat elections.

Rohit Biswal

As per police sources, Biswal was killed instantly after the IED, which was allegedly meant to injure police officers, detonated after he took photographs and approached the posters.

According to ​news reports, the Kalahandi Police Superintendent Vivek M. Saravana said authorities believed the bomb had been planted by Maoist rebels to target police officers, but Biswal had arrived at the scene before the police.

Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, issued a statement on Twitter expressing his condolences to Biswal's family. He stated, "The government strongly condemns the Maoist violence and will take immediate action against all those involved."

Biswal is the first journalist to be killed in 2022 in India. In 2021, four Indian journalists were killed for their work, including Sulabh Srivastava, Chenna Kesavulu, Raman Kashyap, and Budhinath Jha.

The IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: “The death of Rohit Biswal is yet another example of the lack of safety and protection for journalists in India, exposed to life-threatening situations and killed as collateral damage. The Indian Government must do more to safeguard the lives of journalists and media workers. The IFJ calls for a swift investigation into the case to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.”

Earlier in 2018, a Chhattisgarh journalist was killed during a firefight between police and Maoist militants.