His Excellency Atal Behari Vajpayee
Prime Minister of India
Office of the Prime Minister
New Delhi
India

Vienna, 29 January 1999

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI) strongly condemns the brutal murder of Shivani Bhatanagar, a correspondent of the English-language daily newspaper The Indian Express.

IPI is informed that unknown assailants entered Ms. Bhatnagar’s east Delhi apartment on 23 January, strangled her with a length of wire and then stabbed her in the neck and abdomen. Ms. Bhatnagar was at home with her three-month old son, Tanmay, who was not harmed. The post-mortem report concluded that Ms. Bhatnagar died from strangulation and police estimated that she was killed at 3:30 p.m.

We understand that shortly before 3:30, Ms. Bhatnagar had telephoned her husband, Rakesh Bhatnagar, legal editor for the English-language daily Times of India, telling him that two men had stopped by to deliver an invitation to a wedding in Chandigarh, a city north of Delhi. Two rooms in the apartment were apparently ransacked, but police believed that robbery was not a motive for the crime.

Ms. Bhatnager was a member of the special investigations team at The Indian Express and it is feared that her killers may have been attempting to recover incriminating documents.

IPI; the global network of editors and media executives, urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure that those responsible for this heinous crime are brought to justice. We further urge that any findings with regard to this care are disclosed.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director