Unidentified assailants shot dead a young journalist in Kokrajhar district of western Assam on Saturday. This is the second killing of a journalist within a week in conflict-ridden north-east.

Thirty-year-old Jagjit Saikia, a correspondent of popular Assamese daily Amar Asom was shot dead at Kokrajhar, the headquarter of Bodoland Autonomous District Council, in Western Assam at around 1345 hours on Saturday.

Police informed that Saikia received five bullet injuries and was declared brought dead in the local government hospital a few minutes later.

The killing occurred close on the heels of Monday's killing of another young journalist, Konsam Rishikanta at Imphal in Manipur, where newspaper houses have stopped publication of news from Wednesday last for an indefinite period demanding arrest of the culprits.

All journalists' associations in Assam, including the Guwahati Press Club, have condemned the dastardly killing of the scribe terming it an attack on the Fourth Estate in the country. The journalists' bodies have demanded immediate arrest of the culprits behind the murder.

Jagjit Saikia has been associated with Amar Asom daily for the last six years and is survived by his wife and a minor daughter. The management and editorial staff of Amar Asom have expressed shock over the killing and grave concern over the growing threat to the scribes working in the state from various quarters.