NEW DELHI — Mukesh Chandrakar went missing in January 2025 after investigating corruption in a Chhattisgarh road construction project. Authorities found his body in a septic tank. He was 28 years old.
His death is one of five journalist killings in India since June 2024, a pattern that press freedom organizations say reflects a dangerous culture of impunity in the world's largest democracy.
A billion people aren't a statistic—they're a billion stories. But who tells those stories when journalists are killed for trying?
In Bihar, Shivshankar Jha was fatally stabbed in the throat by unidentified assailants in June 2024. He died in hospital the following day. In Madhya Pradesh, Salman Ali Khan, a journalist working across print, broadcast, and online media, was shot by motorcycle-borne attackers outside a hospital in September 2024 and died from his injuries.
Raghvendra Bajpai, a journalist and RTI activist in Uttar Pradesh, was shot dead on a highway in March 2025. His family and colleagues believe the killing was linked to his reporting on land-related irregularities. Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, who worked for an online news outlet in Haryana, was shot by unidentified attackers near his residence in May 2025.
Five journalists. Five states. One pattern: unidentified attackers, alleged links to reporting, slow or unclear accountability.
For Mukesh Chandrakar's family in Chhattisgarh, the question isn't abstract. His mother still asks why her son had to die for exposing how public money disappeared into someone's pocket. That concrete, that road, those crores—they were supposed to serve her neighbors, her community. Instead, they cost her son his life.
Impunity as Policy
According to UNESCO's Observatory of Killed Journalists, India has recorded dozens of journalist deaths over the past two decades, yet prosecution rates remain dismally low. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that India consistently ranks among the world's most dangerous countries for media workers, particularly those investigating corruption, crime, or local power structures.
The International Federation of Journalists has repeatedly called on India's government to strengthen protections for journalists and ensure swift accountability for those who target the press. Those calls have gone largely unanswered.
India's 1.4 billion people depend on a free press to hold power accountable, especially in a federal democracy where 28 states each govern populations larger than most countries. When journalists are silenced, so are the communities they serve.
Common Threads, Uncommon Courage
The five killings share troubling similarities. All five journalists reported on corruption, crime, or local power networks. All five were attacked by unidentified assailants. In all five cases, justice has been delayed or remains unclear.
Many worked in tier-2 and tier-3 cities—places where local power brokers wield enormous influence and where national media attention is scarce. Mukesh Chandrakar wasn't investigating a Delhi scandal that would dominate prime-time news. He was exposing a road contract in Chhattisgarh that most Indians would never hear about. But for his community, that road mattered. His reporting mattered.
Raghvendra Bajpai used Right to Information requests—a democratic tool meant to empower citizens—to expose land irregularities in Uttar Pradesh. He was killed on a highway in broad daylight. The message was clear: asking questions can cost your life.
Failure of Law Enforcement or Culture of Silence?
Press freedom advocates point to multiple failures: inadequate police protection for journalists reporting on sensitive topics, slow investigations that allow trails to go cold, political pressure that discourages aggressive prosecution, and a broader culture that tolerates violence against those who challenge power.
India ranks poorly on global press freedom indices. Reporters Without Borders placed India 159th out of 180 countries in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, citing "increasing violence against journalists" and "impunity for crimes against the media."
For the families of Mukesh Chandrakar, Shivshankar Jha, Salman Ali Khan, Raghvendra Bajpai, and Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, rankings don't matter. Justice does. Accountability does. The ability to tell their loved ones' stories without fear does.
A billion people aren't a statistic—they're a billion stories. When five journalists die in 18 months for trying to tell those stories, India's democracy itself is under attack.
