RAM CHANDER CHATERPATTI

News Organization: POORA SACH

Died: 2002

Location: INDIA

Editor of the Hindi-language newspaper Poora Sach in Sirsa, he died Nov. 21 in a New Delhi hospital of wounds suffered Oct. 24 in an assassination attempt when a gunman fired several shots at him. It is believed that the Dera Sacha Sauda religious sect ordered the murder in reprisal for his reporting about sexual abuse and other crimes allegedly committed at the group's compound in Sirsa. Local and national media groups claim that several journalists in the area have received death threats for reporting Dera Sacha Sauda activities.