Indian press groups call for investigation after journalist’s body found in septic tank

Police then started searching for Ritesh, who had called Mukesh to meet him that night. During the investigation, police learnt that the accused were angry with Mukesh for working on a news report published by NDTV about poor road construction work in Bijapur, where Suresh was the main contractor.

The news report led to an inquiry not only on this particular road construction project but also two other projects handled by Suresh. The estimated cost of the three road projects was around Rs 170 crore.

Apart from Suresh, Ritesh and Mahendra, the chargesheet also names Dinesh, the contractor’s brother.

There are 72 witnesses in the case and evidence includes CCTV footage and call data record analysis.

Additional Superintendent of Police Mayank Gurjar, who headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the murder case, said, “During the investigation, digital and physical evidence were closely monitored and properly included in the chargesheet. All efforts are being taken to ensure all four accused get stringent punishment from the court.”

Asked about the motive, a senior official said, “Suresh was angry with Mukesh for exposing the poor road construction work. The inquiry against him also led to GST raids on his premises, and he was fined around Rs 20 lakh.”

“Suresh called Mukesh multiple times before the murder. He was worried… uska samrajya toot jayega (that his empire would crumble),” the official said.

The official added, “A few days before the murder, Suresh invited Mukesh to meet him at his Bijapur residence. Here, in the presence of some people, Suresh threatened Mukesh and asked him not to report on the issue any further. The GST raids took place on December 27, and Suresh kept blaming Mukesh’s news report,” said the official.

Mukesh was a noted journalist in Bastar who had earned recognition for his field reports from core Naxal area and for highlighting the rights of tribals. He started his own YouTube Channel named Bastar Junction. At the time of his death, it had 1.59 lakh subscribers and 2.87 crore views, which have now increased to 2.01 lakh subscribers and 3.6 crore.