SIT uncovers conspiracy in NDTV journalist's murder

Road construction contractor Suresh Chandrakar, the prime accused in journalist Mukesh Chandrakar murder case in Chhattisgarh, had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to kill him four to five days before the incident, the special investigation team (SIT) said on Thursday.

He was enraged at the journalist's news reports highlighting alleged corruption in his road construction work, the SIT probing the case said in a statement.

Suresh Chandrakar had withdrawn a huge amount of money from his bank account on December 27, four days before the incident, it said.

Journalist Mukesh Chandrakar (33) had gone missing on January 1 and his body was found on January 3 in a septic tank on a property owned by Suresh Chandrakar at Chattanpara Basti in Bijapur town.

Suresh Chandrakar was held from Hyderabad on January 5, while his brothers Ritesh Chandrakar and Dinesh Chandrakar and his site supervisor Mahendra Ramteke were arrested earlier, as per police.

'In detailed interrogation of the accused, it came to light that Mukesh Chandrakar was a relative of Suresh Chandrakar and was working with NDTV. He had published news against Suresh Chandrakar's road construction work following which an enquiry was ordered by authorities,' the SIT statement said.

'Enraged over it, Suresh had hatched a conspiracy four to five day before the incident (January 1) along with his brothers. Ritesh and Mahendra attacked Mukesh with an iron rod, inflicting fatal injuries in room number 11 of the 17 rooms in the shed. Subsequently, the body was thrown into the septic tank which was covered with a fresh concrete slab,' it added.

Dinesh Chandrakar came after the incident in the night of January 1 to conceal evidence and help the accused escape as per the pre-planned scheme of Suresh Chandrakar, the statement said.

'Suresh Chandrakar had planned to stay outside the town at the time of the incident so that suspicion would not fall on him. Police have seized about 4 four-wheelers, a mixer machine, the iron rod used in the incident and other physical evidence in the case. The accused had concealed the iron rod used in the incident and other physical evidence in the bushes on the banks of the Nelasnar river,' the SIT said.

Ritesh, Dinesh and Mahendra, as part of a conspiracy, took two mobile phones of Mukesh Chandrakar to Tumnar river, around 65 km away from Bijapur, to mislead police with his location, it said.

'After going there, they smashed the mobile phones with stones and threw them in the river. A search was carried out by divers and other means but the phones are yet to be recovered,' the SIT statement informed.

During questioning, Suresh Chandrakar told police Mukesh Chandrakar was his relative and yet he was publishing news against him on his channel leading to enquiry against his work, the SIT informed.

'The probe team kept all the four accused separately and examined their mobiles for two days and two nights and carried out interrogation on the basis of call detail records (CDR). A lot of data has been deleted on their mobile phones, which the police are trying to retrieve. Police have questioned more than 50 people and have also got some key evidence from them,' the SIT said.

The SIT has also been collecting detailed information about the properties of Suresh Chandrakar and his relatives.

As per information received from banks, Suresh Chandrakar had withdrawn a huge sum of money from his account on December 27, four days before the incident, which is being investigated, the SIT said in the statement.