TV journalist found dead by the roadside in UP

Police said journalist Sulabh Shrivastava was returning on his motorcycle after work on Sunday night when his motorcycle hit a handpump by the roadside. Reports say he may have been attacked by someone but there is no confirmation.

Pratapgarh (UP): A television journalist based in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district was found dead under suspicious circumstances on Sunday night. As per reports, he was identified as Sulabh Srivastava. He was found injured near a brick kiln on Katra road and rushed to the hospital where the doctor declared him brought dead.

The local police said that Shrivastava was returning on his motorcycle after work on Sunday night when his motorcycle hit a handpump by the roadside. "Shrivastava was returning on his motorcycle after media coverage, at around 11 pm at night on Sunday. He fell from his motorcycle near a brick kiln. Some laborers used his phone to call his acquaintance, and they called an ambulance too. He was then taken to the district hospital where the doctors declared him dead," Surendra Dwivedi, Additional SP of Pratapgarh, said.

Although the police have revealed in the preliminary investigation that he died due to the injuries from a road accident, it is feared that he may have been attacked as he had reported a story against the liquor mafia in the district. However, the journalist's death has been slammed by the senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi who took to Twitter to hit out Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his government.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi took to Twitter to slam UP government

"The liquor mafia has killed from Aligarh to Pratapgarh but the UP government is silent. Journalists are asking dangerous questions to expose the truth. The government is asleep," she tweeted. She further asked, "Does the UP government, which nurtures 'jungle raj', have an answer to the tears of the family members of journalist Sulabh Srivastava?"