Chhattisgarh journalist murder: Four accused sent in 14-day judicial custody

Bijapur: A court in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday remanded four accused arrested in the murder case of journalist Mukesh Chandrakar in 14-day judicial custody.

Construction contractor Suresh Chandrakar, his brothers Ritesh and Dinesh Chandrakar, and Mahendra Ramteke were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

Mukesh Chandrakar (33), a free lance journalist and YouTuber, went missing on January 1. His body was found on January 3 in a septic tank on a property owned by Suresh Chandrakar in Bijapur town.

Suresh, the prime accused who is related to Mukesh, was apprehended by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) from Hyderabad on January 5.

The SIT is yet to recover the victim's mobile phone.

"According to the accused, they threw Mukesh's mobile phone in the Tumnar river. Divers were deployed to search for it, but so far in vain. We are also searching the drainage connected to the septic tank where the body was found," said an official who is a member of the SIT.

"So far we have examined more than 200 call detail records (CDR) and CCTV footage. We want to file a strong charge sheet," he added.

Mukesh Chandrakar worked as a freelance journalist for NDTV news channel and also ran his own YouTube channel, 'Bastar Junction'.

He had played a crucial role in the release of Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, a commando of the state police's CoBRA unit, from Maoist captivity in April 2021 following the Takalguda Naxal ambush in Bijapur in which 22 security personnel were killed.

It was speculated that a news report by Mukesh, highlighting alleged corruption in a road construction work linked to Suresh Chandrakar and aired on NDTV on December 25, could be a possible reason for the murder.