Police are probing all angles, including that of suicide and murder, in the death of television news channel journalist Chirag Patel, senior officials said on Tuesday, 19 March.
A copy editor with Gujarati news channel TV9 Gujarati, Patel’s charred body was found Saturday, 16 March, near a canal in Nikol area here in Ahmedabad.
Police have also collected RTI applications filed by Chirag before his death. Jaimin Patel, Chirag’s elder brother, told The Quint,
“The day we filed the FIR, we submitted all his documents, including the RTIs filed by Chirag. Police told us that the RTIs will help them in investigating the case. I have also requested the government to transfer the case to the Crime Branch. I am headed to the Crime Branch right now to meet the personnel there.”Jaimin Patel, Brother of Chirag Patel
In a press conference held on Tuesday, 19 March, police said that they are probing both suicide and murder angles in the case.
“There are no external injury marks or any sign of physical struggle, as per the post mortem report. Even CCTV footage of the area where his body was found shows Patel alone. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of suicide. However, we are probing all angles,”MS Bharada, Additional Commissioner of Police
Deputy Commissioner of Police Akshayraj Makwana stressed there was "70 to 80 percent" possibility that Patel committed suicide, though he added that police was not ruling out murder either.
“Nothing suspicious has been found in our probe. Six Indian Police Service officers, including me, are leading probe teams in the case,”Deputy Commissioner of Police Akshayraj Makwana
Gujarat BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya told reporters that Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had asked police to conduct a thorough probe.
Vadgam MLA and Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani also urged national media to “take up the issue of murder of Gujarat journalist Chirag Patel.”
Patel's death has upset the media community in the state greatly and many have taken to social media to pressure the government into solving the case.
(With inputs from PTI)
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