Journalist in Chatra killed for not meeting demands by Maoists, says Jharkhand police

Chatra (Jharkhand):  The Police on Tuesday claimed that the news channel journalist Akhilesh Pratap Singh was shot dead by activists of the ultra outfit Trutiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) for not meeting their demands for levy. According to a report by The Hindu, Singh, who was a district correspondent for regional Hindi news channel Taaza TV, was once a Maoist. He used to be an ‘area commander’ in Barachatti of Bihar. Addressing a press conference, Chatra district Superintendent of Police Anjani Jha said one person arrested on Tuesday in this connection turned out to be a local representative of Simaria BJP MLA Ganesh Ganju. Police was still in search of the shooter in the case who was identified as Munesh Ganju, mastermind of the incident Mukesh Ganju and another TPC ultra, Jha said adding the accused had demanded Rs seven lakh levy for a contract, which the journalist had reportedly bagged. [caption id=“attachment_2787556” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The murdered journalist used to do some contract work for DVC in Rajpur police station limits, he said. The Police had already arrested Birbal Sao, a native of Mayurhund block, and Jhaman Kumar of Lawalong on Monday. Suraj Sao, the representative of MLA Ganesh Ganju, was arrested on Tuesday, the SP said. In the mean time, on Tuesday MLA Ganju demanded for CBI probe into the killing of journalist Akhilesh Singh (35), who was shot dead by unknown assailants near Dewaria panchayat secretariat on 12 May, triggering widespread condemnation of the attacks on journalists across the country. To ensure a fair and impartial probe, I would request you to recommend a CBI probe into the killing of the journalist to provide justice to the family members as well as the journalist fraternity, Ganju in a letter to Chief Minister Raghubar Das, said. No innocent should be implicated in the case and culprits should not go free, he said. Earlier, Chief Minister Das had asked Director General of Police D K Pandey to arrest the culprits at the earliest. A delegation of local journalists had met Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar and Superintendent of Police Anjani Jha following the incident and demanded adequate compensation for the family of the victim. With inputs from PTI