A digital journalist working for a mainstream television channel was reportedly found dead on a roadside in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district on June 13. A day before his death, Sulabh Srivastava had written an application to the Prayagraj Zone police, requesting to provide security to him and his family.
A resident of Prayagraj’s neighbouring Pratapgarh district, Srivastava had reported on a raid on the allegedly illegal stocks of liquor in the Kunda area on June 9 following which, he stated in the letter, a local liquor mafia was miffed with him.
Hours after his death, the Pratapgrah Police had put out a video on Twitter informing that his death was an accident.
However, after a complaint lodged by his wife, the police registered a first information report (FIR) under the sections 302 (murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“Srivastava was returning on his motorcycle after a media coverage, and at around 11 pm at night on Sunday. He fell from his motorcycle near a brick kiln. Some labourers found him on the road, lifted him and then searched for contacts on his phone to call his friends. He was then taken to the district hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead,” the Pratapgarh police said in a statement on June 13.
The police further informed that the initial probe reveals that Srivastava fell after his “bike collided with a handpump along the road.” It also also added that they the investigation is underway and other angles are being looked into.
Opposition leaders call out law and order situation in UP
The issue caught political attention today after Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked the state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government by stating that “the liquor mafia has killed from Aligarh to Pratapgarh but the UP government is silent (sic)”. She also questioned in a Twitter post, “Does the UP government, which nurtures ‘jungle raj’, have anything to answer the tears of the family members of the deceased journalist Sulabh Srivastava?”
Also, Samajwadi Party chief and former state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav stated that the CM-Adityanath-led government should conduct a high-level probe into the matter.
“The mysterious death of a TV reporter in a suspicious accident is extremely sad. The BJP government in this case should constitute a high-level probe, and inform the family members and the public that despite the apprehension of murder by the liquor mafia as notified by the reporter, why was he not provided with security,” Yadav stated in a tweet in Hindi.
Meanwhile, the journalists’ accusations against the liquor mafia have surfaced almost two weeks after nearly 50 people died in state’s Aligarh district after consuming spurious liquor on May 31.
It was reported on June 6 that the key accused Rishi Sharma, who carried a reward of Rs 100,000 on his arrest, was held near Bulandshahr border in western Uttar Pradesh.
