The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday sought within two weeks a detailed report on the killing of journalist Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, who was shot dead recently while on a walk by unidentified persons in Haryana's Jhajjar district.

The commission issued a notice to the state while taking suo motu cognisance of media reports that the journalist was shot dead near his residence at Luhari village in Jhajjar on May 18. The journalist, reportedly working for a news portal, was out for a walk after dinner when the assailants shot him.

The commission observed that the news reports, if true, raise a serious issue of human rights violations against the deceased journalist. It issued a notice to the Haryana director-general of police, calling for a detailed report within two weeks. It is expected to include the status of the investigation of the case.

According to media reports, the villagers took Chauhan to a nearby hospital, from where he was referred to another hospital in Gurgaon before he succumbed to his injuries.

The NHRC also took suo motu cognisance of media reports that three Dalit workers died because of asphyxiation after they entered a sewage tank without protective gear at a private industrial unit in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, on May 19.

The workers, employed at a dyeing mill in Karaipudur, had been asked to clean the factory tank. The commission observed that the incident was a serious rights violation. The NHRC recalled a Supreme Court judgment in the Dr Balram Singh vs Union of India case of 2023 in which it was held that it is the duty of the local authorities to use modern technology to clean sewers.