The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested three people in connection with the murder of 37-year-old journalist Rakesh Singh Nirbhik and his friend, Mithlesh Sahu (also known as Pintu), near Bahadurpur crossing on Monday, 30 November.
The accused, Lalit Mishra, Keshvanand Mishra alias Rinku and Akram Ali were arrested after confessing their crime. They allegedly told Balrampur Superintendent of Police Devranjan Verma that Nirbhik had exposed a corruption scandal by the village head, who was also the mother of one of the accused, Keshavand Mishra reported PTI.
The Incident
On Friday, Rakesh Singh Nirbhik and his friend, Pintu (34-years-old) was found with severe burns in the journalist’s home in Balrampur. The friend was already dead, but Nirbhik was rushed to hospital, where he passed away a few hours after, reported NDTV.
Nirbhik, who wrote for the Lucknow paper Rashtriya Swaroop told hospital officials in a 2.5 minute video that, “This is the price for reporting the truth”, referring to a corruption scam of siphoning off funds that he had allegedly uncovered by the village head Sushila Devi and her son, an accused in the case, reported NDTV.
Ramashankar Singh, the station house officer of Kotwali Dehat police station, told Scroll that the journalist alleged the corruption by the mother-son duo in the installation of solar panels and the construction of roads and sewage.
On Monday, three days after, the Balrampur police arrested three people who they claim entered the journalist’s home, made him and his friend drink alcohol and later doused the victims with alcohol-based sanitiser before setting them on fire to make it look like an accident, reported PTI.
The SP told PTI that the accused held a grudge against the journalist and said, “To burn the house using the chemical, Lalit Mishra and Keshvanand Mishra took the help of Akram Ali alias Abdul Qadir, who is an expert in executing incidents like these”.
The police said that the journalist’s wife and two daughters were at a relative’s home when the incident occurred, reported NDTV.
The father of the journalist, Munna Singh, also demanded a probe into his son’s murder.
Earlier on Sunday, the Balrampur district administration’s legislator Palturam presented a cheque of Rs. 5 lakh to Vibha, the wife of the journalist, who had previously stated that she will set fire to herself if the authorities do not arrest the accused.
The management of Balrampur Chini Mills has also promised to provide employment to Vibha. The district administration has agreed to sponsor Nirbhik’s daughters’ education.
(With inputs from NDTV, Scroll and PTI)
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