New Year has brought sad news for the Indian media fraternity as a young scribe was found murdered in Bijapur locality of Chhattisgarh State on Friday. 33-year-old journalist Mukesh Chandrakar was found dead in a septic tank on a local contractor’s property.
Mukesh used to investigate and report corruption related news via his YouTube channel `Bastar Junction’, enjoying millions of views and he was also a contributing reporter with NDTV. Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai has strongly condemned the murder and said ‘culprits won’t be spared’.
“It’s unfortunate that a young media person is seemingly targeted for his string reporting on powerful corrupt people. Incidentally, Mukesh Chandrakar becomes the first journalist to be killed this year across the world. We demand a fair probe to identify the culprits behind his killing and subsequent punishment under the law” said Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body.
“PEC urges Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai to take personal interest to deliver justice to the bereaved scribe’s family as early as possible,” said PEC president Blaise Lempen.
PEC’s south Asia representative Nava Thakuria informed that Mukesh worked in several media outlets including a satellite news channel. He made a mark in investigative journalism while reporting on misappropriation of funds in various government projects in his locality.
The courageous journalist also faced wrath from the ultra left insurgents, who remained active in Bastar district, and finally Mukesh established himself as a strong voice for the deprived section in the society, Nava Thakuria added.
He deplored that the global casualty of media workers reached 179 in 2024 across 25 countries and India maintained the number of journo-murders within 4 which is one more than the casualty reported in 2023. All the media victims reported last year from the central Indian region, where Uttar Pradesh witnessed the killing of two journalists (Ashutosh Srivastava and Dilip Saini), followed by Bihar (Shivshankar Jha) and Madhya Pradesh (Salman Ali Khan).
Meanwhile, in this case, police have arrested three accused and are looking for the main accused Suresh Chandrakar. As per the officials, he will be in custody soon. Bastar IG P Sundarraj has confirmed the arrest of all three accused. Mukesh played a key role in securing the release of CRPF personnel abducted by Maoists after an encounter in Bijapur in 2021.