RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh deputy CM Vijay Sharma said Saturday the govt has set up an 11-member SIT to probe the murder of Bastar journalist Mukesh Chandrakar, whose body was found in a septic tank in Bijapur on Friday.
“Bastar police have arrested three persons in connection with the murder, while prime accused Suresh Chandrakar, a civil contractor, is still at large,” said Sharma. On the motive for Mukesh’s murder, Sharma said a news report on corruption in road construction was telecast on NDTV on Dec 25, which prompted deputy CM Arun Sao to order an inquiry. It’s suspected that the report was the cause for murder, Sharma said.
“The main accused, Suresh Chandrakar, is a Congress neta and a party functionary of Bijapur,” Sharma alleged. “He is on the run but four teams have been constituted to trace him,” Sharma added.
Congress state communication wing head Sushil Anand Shukla countered Sharma’s allegation, saying, “Murder accused Suresh Chandrakar joined BJP. There are photos of him with senior BJP members of Bijapur and former BJP president of Bijapur Venkat. Suresh also visited the CM residence 10 days ago. The CCTV footage of CM house should be made public.”
Based on the deceased last known location, all rooms at the premises of contractor Suresh Chandrakar in Chattan Para were inspected on Jan 2 but nothing was found.”On Jan 3, fearing the worst, the freshly cemented septic tank near the badminton court at Suresh Chandrakar’s premises was examined. In the presence of senior officials, the slab over the septic tank was dismantled and lid of the old septic tank was opened wherein a male body was spotted which was later identified to be of Mukesh Chandrakar,” he said.
