TNI Bureau: Miscreants launched a murderous attack on an on-duty journalist late last night in Bhubaneswar leaving him critically injured.

Saroj Jena, who works at Dharitri newspaper, was reportedly attacked by a group of unidentified miscreants while he was returning home from office.

According to reports, Saroj was returning home after finishing his work at around 1 AM. In the meantime, three miscreants who were under the influence of alcohol and were in an Activa scooty (OD-02 T 2509) came and hit his bike when he reached near the ATM between Kalpana Square and Badagada.

Saroj somehow managed to control the vehicle. However, the miscreants picked an argument with him alleging  that he was at fault and scolded him by using slang. When Saroj protested, one of them attacked his head with a brick, which he collected from the roadside.

While Saroj fell to the ground profusely bleeding, the miscreants fled the spot by seeing other passersby.

Saroj was rushed to the Capital Hospital for treatment. Later, he filed a police complaint at Badagada Police station.

Meanwhile, police has started an investigation into the matter. Efforts are on to trace the miscreants who are said to be from the Badagada area.

Earlier on February 11, another working Journalist Jyoti Ranjan Mohapatra was brutally attacked by miscreants near Dhirikuti Basti in Bhubaneswar. Later, the Mancheswar police arrested two persons in connection with the attack on him.