New Delhi — Indian illustrator Anand R K and investigative journalist Suparna Sharma have been awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Illustrated Reporting and Commentary for the project trAPPed, a prize they share with Bloomberg reporter Natalie Obiko Pearson.
Published by Bloomberg, trAPPed pairs immersive illustrations with deep reporting to map how cyber-fraud networks operate across South Asia. The piece focuses on a chilling case in which a neurologist in India was psychologically ensnared by sophisticated cybercriminals in what the project calls a ‘digital arrest.’ Using illustration alongside reporting, the work traces how surveillance, deception and manipulation are used to trap victims online.
The Pulitzer Prize Board praised the project for its editorial rigor, clarity and service to the public in explaining complex cybercrime through inventive storytelling.
Anand R K, based in Mumbai, created the project’s illustrations. He is known for graphic storytelling and previously won the Eisner Award in 2021 for his graphic novel Blue in Green. Suparna Sharma led the reporting; she is an investigative journalist with a track record covering corruption, elder care and workplace misconduct in India. Natalie Obiko Pearson, a senior investigative reporter for Bloomberg in Tokyo, contributed reporting; she was a 2024 Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting on global firearms exports.
Image credits/Instagram: @suparnasharma123 and @curiodesignstore
The 2026 Pulitzers also recognized other notable work: Saher Alghorra won Breaking News Photography for coverage from Gaza; Yael Grauer was part of an Associated Press team awarded International Reporting; The Washington Post received the Public Service prize for reporting on federal policy changes; The New York Times won Investigative Reporting for coverage of executive-branch conflicts. Indian journalist Aniruddha Ghosal was also singled out in International Reporting for an investigation into secretive mass-surveillance tools used by the US Border Patrol and other governments.
