Prime Accused Arrested in Journalist Mukesh Chandrakar's Murder in Bastar
On Monday, the Chhattisgarh Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested Suresh Chandrakar from Hyderabad. He is the prime accused in the murder of Bastar-based journalist and YouTuber Mukesh Chandrakar.
Mukesh Chandrakar went missing from Bastar on New Year's Day. He was a freelance journalist who widely reported on corruption in public construction projects. Apart from working for mainstream TV channels like NDTV, he also ran a popular YouTube channel, Bastar Junction.
An Indian Express report pointed out that Mukesh and Sukma-based journalist Raja Rathore had co-written a news story on the arrest of four journalists who had reported on illegal mining activities by the BJP leaders in the Bastar region.
"Mukesh sent me the screenshot of a WhatsApp text by a senior IPS officer, expressing disapproval of the stand he had taken for the imprisoned journalists. “Kuch hoga to nahin na?” he asked me from the other side of the phone, an apprehension in his voice," the Indian Express story added.
Mukesh Chandrakar was murdered a few months later. The Indian Express writer Ashutosh Bhardwaj believes that the two episodes are connected and depict the administration-criminal nexus in Bastar.
Mukesh's body was discovered on Friday from a septic tank within the residential premises of a road construction contractor in the Bijapur town area. The Police said they did not find the body when they first visited the contractor's residence on January 2.
Reporters Without Borders, an international organisation safeguarding the freedom of journalists, reported that on average three or four journalists are killed every year in India, making it one of the most dangerous countries to practise journalism.