A journalist associated with a private news TV channel Royal News Tv, was gunned down in Sukkur on Thursday.

A group of armed men opened fire on Ajay Laalwani, when he was sitting at a barber shop. He suffered injuries and was taken to Civil Hospital, Sukkur, where he succumbed to death during treatment.

The Sindh Journalists Council has appealed to the Sindh chief minister and inspector general of the police to take action for an early arrest of Mr Laalwani’s killers, who after fleeing the scene are still at large.

Few days back, another journalist, Sahil Jogi of Samaa TV, was allegedly tortured by the police when he was covering a protest against the death of a Sindh University student, Irfan Jatoi, in what police claimed to be an encounter.

Sukkur Police registered cases against Sahil Jogi and other journalists and charged them with criminal offences, including terrorism.

A total of 65 journalists and media workers, including nine from Pakistan, were killed worldwide in 2020 while doing their jobs, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Journalists in Pakistan, who dared to broach subjects deemed off limits by the establishment or regime have been subjected to harassment campaigns.

Between May 2019 and April 2020, there have been more than 90 cases of attacks and violations against members of the press in Pakistan, according to a report by Freedom Network. Seven were killed, and more incidents were reported after the study was released, including two murders in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

In year 2020, Pakistan fell six spots in ‘Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom ranking which should be a growing concern for the current regime as freedom of expression and media is at stake.