Bhopal: A journalist of a Hindi daily was shot dead late Wednesday evening when he was filing his reports at his office in Pipliya Mandi under Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district.

Forty-two–year-old Kamlesh Jain, who was working for an Indore-based daily, was fired from close range by two assailants who fled the spot on motorcycle after committing the crime, Pipliya Mandi police station in-charge Anil Singh Thakur said.

He was rushed to a hospital at Mandsaur where doctors declared him brought dead. His family members suspected hand of local bootleggers in his murder.

According to them, the victim had an altercation with some people involved in illicit liquor business in the locality four days ago. They had reportedly threatened to eliminate him.

“My brother had detailed the incident before the local police fearing threats to his life from the local hooch traders. But, no action was taken,” the victim’s brother Manish Jain said.