Jagdalpur\Bijapur: In a breakthrough in the murder case of journalist Mukesh Chandrakar, who was killed in Naxal-affected Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, a joint team of cyber police and the special SIT arrested the main accused, Suresh Chandrakar, from Hyderabad on Sunday night, Bastar IG Sundarraj P said.
Who was Mukesh Chandrakar?
Mukesh Chandrakar, a young journalist, used to freelance for many news channels. Mukesh used to run a YouTube channel 'Bastar Junction'. Which had more than one and a half lakh subscribers. Mukesh Chandrakar came into the limelight when he played an important role in freeing Cobra Commando Rakeshwar Singh Manhas from the captivity of Naxalites after the Takalguda Naxalite attack in Bijapur in April 2021. After this incident, the then CM Bhupesh Baghel met Mukesh Chandrakar and the media team which had helped in the rescue.
Chandrakar goes missing on New Year's Day
Chandrakar went missing on the evening of January 1. His brother Yukesh Chandrakar first tried to find his brother on his own. Then he posted information about his brother Mukesh's disappearance on January 1 on social media. The post alarmed security agencies and caused concern among Chandrakar's neighbours and friends because of his sudden disappearance from a Naxal-affected area like Bijapur. Yukesh also informed the Bijapur police about the incident. Police started looking for the missing journalist.
Body found in a septic tank two days later
Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Yadav said that based on the last location of Mukesh's mobile number, a search was launched and the journalist's body was fished out by a JCB from the premises of contractor Suresh Chandrakar on Friday, January 3. There was a septic tank on the premises, inside which the journalist's body was put after being murdered and plastered on top. At around 5 pm, the police excavated the body of Mukesh Chandrakar with a JCB.
Why was he killed?
Mukesh Chandrakar had exposed the corruption in the road constructed by the accused contractor Suresh Chandrakar. His whistleblowing act is considered the main reason for the murder of the journalist. Police investigation revealed that contractor Suresh Chandrakar is the main accused in the murder. Investigations revealed he along with his brother Ritesh and supervisor Mahendra Ramteke killed Mukesh on January 1. The journalist's dead body was dumped in a septic tank.
On January 4, Bijapur police arrested Ritesh Chandrakar, supervisor Mahendra Ramteke and Dinesh Chandrakar for tampering with evidence. Facing backlash from the local people and increasing pressure from journalists, the government formed an SIT. Suresh Chandrakar was hiding at his driver's place in Hyderabad. To reach the main accused, the police scanned 200 CCTV cameras and tracked about 300 mobile numbers.
