A soldier shot and killed Sudip Datta Bhowmik, a crime reporter with Bengali daily Syandan Patrika who also contributed to local TV station News Vanguard, on Nov. 21, 2017 near Agartala, the capital of the state of Tripura. Bhowmkik had traveled to the headquarters of a battalion of the Tripura State Rifles, a paramilitary force engaged in counter-insurgency operations, to speak with a commandant and follow up on a lead. A colleague told local media that Bhowmik had recently exposed financial irregularities in the paramilitary force.

Before meeting the commandant, Tappan Debbarma, with whom he had an appointment, Bhowmik reportedly became involved in an argument with Rifleman Nanda Reang. After the exchange became heated, Reang allegedly shot Bhowmik point blank with his service revolver. Reang was taken into custody and days later Debbarma was also arrested for allegedly ordering Reang, his personal bodyguard, to shoot Bhowmik. In subsequent days, two other members of the paramilitary force reportedly were also arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy in connection with Bhowmik’s killing.