By IANS,
Guwahati : Police Thursday released a sketch of the suspected killer of murdered Assam editor Anil Mazumdar, even as three people were detained for interrogation, officials said.
“On the basis of an eyewitness account by Mazumdar’s driver, we prepared a sketch of the killer who is about 5.3 feet tall and aged around 35,” Guwahati city police chief P.C. Haloi told journalists.
“Investigations are on and we seek people’s cooperation and support in identifying the culprit. We are interrogating some people and hope to crack the case.”
Mazumdar, editor of mass circulated Assamese daily Aaji, was shot dead from close range with a 9 mm revolver seven times on chest late Tuesday when he was about to enter his residence.
“It could be militants or some criminal gangs who could be involved. We are investigating all angles,” the police official said.
Meanwhile, protests are pouring in from across Assam with the journalist fraternity in the state demanding the government to nab the killer within a week or else threatened to resort to a mass agitation.
“Journalists in Assam are not safe and there is an attempt always to muzzle the freedom of the press,” senior journalist Atanu Bhuyan said.
Since 1991, 21 journalists have been killed although not a single case was solved with the killers still at large.
“We are committed to arresting the killer soon,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.