A journalist who is said to have taken on the liquor mafia was stabbed to death in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur late on Tuesday night by some unidentified men.

The police have not been able to arrest anyone in the case yet.

Bihar leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, slammed the chief minister Nitish Kumar-led “double engine government” of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the murder and asked whether this was the definition of “mangal raj” (auspicious rule) for their followers.

The incident occurred in Maripur village under Maniyari police station and the deceased has been identified as one Shiv Shankar Jha. He had been running a news channel on YouTube.

Jha seemed to have been stopped by a group of people near a temple in his village while returning from work. He was stabbed a couple of times. The spot is just 500 metres from his home. His bike was found parked nearby leading to a possibility that he knew the assailants.

The police reached the spot after being informed about the incident and rushed Jha to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) because he was unconscious but alive. However, he succumbed to his injuries.

“Jha was returning home on his motorcycle. Some miscreants stopped him and stabbed him twice. We got information and reached there. Our men took him to SKMCH, where he died while being treated. We are investigating the incident and will nab the culprits soon,” Animesh Chandra Gyani, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Muzaffarpur (West)-II said.

Gyani said that the murder could be due to his journalism and the "hostility" of people against whom Jha reported.

“It has come to light that Jha was being targeted by the liquor mafia and had complained to the police about it a couple of days ago. We are probing from all angles and will take further action,” the SDPO said.