Chhattisgarh 'Road Scam' Report Led To Journo's Murder? BJP Draws Link Between Contractor & Congress

Last Updated:January 04, 2025, 14:08 IST

Mukesh Chandrakar Death News: Posting contractor Suresh Chandrakar's picture with Congress leader Deepak Baij, BJP asked if he's a contractor or a 'Congress contract killer'. Police have detained three people in the case but have not disclosed their names.

Mukesh Chandrakar Death News: Chhattisgarh Congress president Deepak Baij (R) with contractor Suresh Chandrakar, at whose Bijapur property the journalist was found dead. (X@BJP4CGState)

A war of words has erupted between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the murder of 33-year-old freelance journalist Mukesh Chandrakar in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district.

Chandrakar had been missing since January 1. His body was found on Friday in a septic tank at the property of contractor Suresh Chandrakar in Chattanpara Basti.

The BJP on Saturday alleged that Suresh Chandrakar was a close aide of state Congress president, Deepak Baij. Posting pictures of Baij with Chandrakar, Chhattisgarh unit of the party wrote, “It was Deepak Baij who honoured Suresh with the post of State Secretary of SC Morcha of Congress Party. Various kinds of criminal goods are being sold from the so-called ‘Mohabbat ki dukaan’ (shop of love) of Congress — after-all, all the salesmen are criminals."

Police on Saturday said that they have detained three people in connection with the murder and are being interrogated. The police, however, did not disclose their names and said the details would be revealed later in the day.

Three persons have been detained in connection with the murder of a 33-year-old journalist whose body was found in a septic tank on a local contractor’s property in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, police said on Saturday.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai said that the “culprits will not be spared under any circumstances". “We have given instructions to arrest the criminals as soon as possible, and give them the harshest punishment," the CM said on X (formerly Twitter).

Meanwhile, the opposition party, Congress, targeted the state’s BJP government, and questioned the deteriorating law and order situation.

Congress state president president Deepak Baij said, “Under the BJP rule, journalists are paying the price of journalism with their lives."

Former CM and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel suggested that the state government should provide financial help and employment to the family of Chandrakar.

Baghel also recalled how the journalist had helped in the release of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, who was abducted by Naxals after an ambush in Bijapur.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, who was earlier in Congress, wondered whose political patronage does the contractor (at whose property Chandrakar was found dead) enjoy. “Being an honest, investigative journalist in India is the bravest thing," she said, hoping that the journalist’s family gets justice.

Mukesh Chandrakar had been investigating alleged irregularities in a Rs 120-crore road construction project in Bastar.

Bijapur, India

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