Chhattisgarh Journalist Murder: Three held as police intensifies hunt for another accused

Raipur: Police in Chhattisgarh have detained three people while efforts are on for the arrest of another accused in connection with the tragic murder of Bijapur’s independent journalist Mukesh Chandrakar.

The cold-blooded murder of Chandrakar has rocked the otherwise peaceful state with local journalists jamming the national highway in Bijapur on Saturday, seeking swift action into the case.

Police on Friday, January 3 recovered the swollen body of Chandrakar with multiple injuries on his head from a freshly sealed septic tank in Chattanpara area, around two kilometres away from his home. Chandrakar was missing since Wednesday evening. January 1.

The premise from which Chandrakar’s body was recovered belongs to a contractor namely Suresh Chandrakar who is said to be on the run. The police have already arrested his brother Ritesh Chandrakar and two others in connection with the horrific murder.

Mukesh Chandrakar was known for his ground coverage of Maoist related stories from the interiors of Bastar’s violence hit areas and had a significant following on YouTube. He was also one of the interlocutors involved in securing the release of abducted Crpf  Jawan from Maoist’s captivity in the year 2021.

Mukesh had left his house at around 7pm on January 1 and was missing since then. His brother journalist Yukesh Chandrakar filed a missing person report with the police after searching him at near ones houses and other places. Yukesh also tried contacting him over the phone but it was found to be switched off.

According to the reports, Mukesh had recently covered news related with alleged irregularities in a road project being constructed between Gangloor to Nelasanar village with a cost of around Rs120 crores.

The coverage prompted an investigation into the project, irking a few local strong men. As per the complaint filed by his brother Yukesh, Mukesh was receiving threats calls on his phone following the coverage.

The police after receiving the missing complaint formed a team and launched an investigation to trace Mukesh. The police team examined the CCTV footage along tracking his last location before finally recovering the body from the newly built concrete packed septic tank near a badminton court in Chattanpara on Friday.

The incident left the fellow journalists and other local media personnel in a state of shock with many expressing their grief and shock over the incident on social media.

CM expresses grief over murder, assures “culprits won’t be spared”

Reacting to the murder of Mukesh, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed his condolences. In a post on social media platform X the CM said “The news of murder of young and dedicated journalist Mukesh Chandrakar of Bijapur is extremely sad and heart-breaking. The demise of Mukesh Ji is an irreparable loss to the world of journalism and society.”

CM in his tweet further assured that the culprits of the crime will not be spared at any cost. “The culprits of this incident will not be spared under any circumstances. We have given instructions to arrest the criminal as soon as possible and give them the harshest punishment,” said the CM.

Congress questions law and order, BJP hits back with images of accused contractor with Congress leaders

The cold-blooded murder of the journalist has also triggered a political war in the state with both Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) training guns on each others. Questioning the state of law and order in Chhattisgarh, the Congress party on Thursday claimed that there is a “BJP’s Jungle Raj” in the state.

The BJP on the other hand reacted sharply with the Congress’ allegations, sharing the pictures of one of the accused with the leaders of the Chhattisgarh Congress party.

Taking to X, BJP’s IT department head, Amit Malviya on Thursday said “The contractor accused of murdering the journalist is Suresh Chandrakar. Suresh Chandrakar is a big leader of Congress who is given responsibilities by Congress in every election.”

The BJP leader also shares images of the accused contractor with local Congress MLA from Bijapur, Vikram Mandavi and Congress State President, Deepak Baij. “The accused along with current state Congress president Deepak Baij, wrote Malviya while sharing the pictures and a few paper cuttings.

One of the paper cutting shared by Malviya shows the accused Suresh Chandrakar was named in-charge of three districts by Congress party before the state assembly elections. The case is being investigated further by the authorities.