BOGOTA – Colombian journalist Clodomiro Castillo, editor of El Pulso del Tiempo magazine, was slain by two hired killers who went to his home in the northern province of Cordoba and gunned him down, local media said.

Castillo, 49, who also worked for local radio stations, lived in the El Puente suburb of Monteria, Cordoba’s capital.

The authorities deployed agents to find and capture the murderers and discover what motives they had for killing him, since there had apparently been no threats against his life.

Throughout his journalistic career, Castillo was a sharp critic of local governments.

According to the accounts of local residents posted on the Web site of the daily El Tiempo, the killers used weapons with silencers, since the neighbors say they heard no gunshots.