Bijapur: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the brutal murder of Chhattisgarh journalist Mukesh Chandrakar filed its chargesheet in the case, before a local court in Bijapur on March 18.
The chargesheet filed before the court consist of over 1000 pages and the police have made over 70 witnesses in the case, that rocked the state in January this year.
The SIT has already arrested all the four accused in the case including Suresh Chandrakar, the alleged mastermind behind the gruesome murder of the journo.
A Bastar based journalist Mukesh Chandrakar’s body was recovered from a sealed septic tank of a premise belonging to contractor Suresh Chandrakar on January 3.
Following the recovery of the body, the state government swiftly announced an 11-member SIT to nab the accused and investigate the motive behind the murder.
The police launch a manhunt to nab the culprits and initially arrested Suresh Chandrakar’s brothers Ritesh Chandrakar and Dinesh Chandrakar along his supervisor Mahendra Ramteke. The main accused Suresh Chandrakar was nabbed by the SIT from Hyderabad on January 5.
Mukesh, a freelance journalist with a national TV channel was missing since January 1. His brother Yukesh Chandrakar in his missing complaint filed with the police had disclosed that Mukesh was receiving threat calls.
Mukesh had reported on alleged irregularities in a road construction work costing around Rs120 crores. The report led to a halt on the project which is believed to be the prime reason behind the journo murder. The said work was linked with contractor Suresh Chandrakar.
The autopsy report of Mukesh reveals brutal torture before the murder, suggesting involvement of a number of people in the assault.
Meanwhile Chhattisgarh Public Work Development (PWD) suspended the registration of contractor Suresh Chandrakar in January this year. The department had also cancelled all the tenders awarded to Chandrakar. The accused was enrolled as category ‘A’ contractor with the department.
Further the Bijapur district administration had also razed illegal construction of Suresh Chandrakar. His bank accounts were also seized by the state government.
Earlier Chhattisgarh Deputy CM Vijay Sharma vowed to bring out the actual reason behind the journalist murder, stating “It must have been so painful for him and the reason and conspiracy behind the murder should be found out.”
The incident also stirred a political row in the state with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders sharing pictures of the main accused with Congress leaders. The BJP leaders also shared paper cuttings, suggesting Chandrakar’s appointment as an election observer for the Congress party. The Congress party however downplayed the allegations, claiming that the accused Chandrakar had recently joined BJP.
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