Indian media rights teams have known as for an investigation after the physique of a lacking journalist was discovered hidden in a septic tank.
Mukesh Chandrakar, 32, was a well known freelance journalist within the Indian state of Chhattisgarh who contributed to a number of the nation’s largest information channels. He had additionally extensively reported on alleged corruption within the development business on his fashionable YouTube channel.
His household had reported Chandrakar lacking on New 12 months’s Day. On Friday, police discovered his physique within the compound of a development contractor within the city of Bijapur.
In line with native police, his physique was present in a septic tank that had concrete slabs newly positioned on prime of it. Officers stated Chandrakar’s physique confirmed proof of a blunt power assault, indicating foul play in his killing.
Police advised Indian media they suspected Chandrakar’s loss of life was associated to a latest report he had performed into an alleged highway development rip-off in Bijapur which had resulted in a police investigation.
Three folks have been arrested to date over Chandrakar’s loss of life and one other of the primary suspects, Suresh Chandrakar, who owned the development compound the place Chandrakar’s physique was discovered, continues to be on the run, police have stated.
The invention of his physique prompted an outpouring of anger amongst Indian press watchdogs and native journalists, who held a protest within the state. In a press release, the Press Council of India expressed concern over the suspected homicide of Chandrakar and known as for a report on the “details of the case”.
The president of the native Bastar Journalist Affiliation, Manish Gupta, described the incident as a “darkish chapter” and known as on the police and authorities to offer higher security to journalists working in harmful environments within the state.
Vishnu Deo Sai, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh from the ruling Bharatiya Janata get together, known as Chandrakar’s loss of life “heartbreaking” and promised the “harshest punishment” for these discovered accountable.
India stays a extremely harmful place for journalists, in response to international media watchdog Reporters With out Borders, with 28 journalists killed over the previous decade on account of their reporting.
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