C’garh: Scribe Killed Over ‘Coverage on Corruption’ in Bastar, One Detained

Raipur: A freelance journalist working for different visual media was killed in Bijapur district under south Bastar in Chhattisgarh allegedly for his coverage on irregularities in the implementation of a construction project by a private contractor, police said.

Body of the slain journalist, Mukesh Chandrakar (32), was on Friday found in the water tank installed in the premises of the house of one Suresh Chandrakar, a contractor, in district headquarters of Bijapur, local additional superintendent of police (ASP) Yuglander Yark told this newspaper.

The journalist was working for a national TV news channel besides running his own Youtube channel.

According to the police, the scribe went missing from his house in Bijapur on Wednesday night.

His brother Yukesh Chandrakar later filed a missing report in the local police station.

The scribe’s body was found on Friday, he said.

The body was sent for postmortem.

“Preliminary investigation has suggested the exposure of corruption in a construction project may be the motive behind his murder”, the police officer said.

Police was also not ruling out a family dispute behind the crime since the contractor who had allegedly fled is his kin, he added.

“We are investing into all angles”, he said.

A suspect was detained for interrogation in connection with the incident, while police started looking out for the other suspect.