Chattisgarh: Journalist Mukesh Chandrakar Was Murdered By Cousins, Says Police

A 32-year-old independent journalist Mukesh Chandrakar was brutally murdered in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar division. Investigation revealed that he was killed by his own cousins.

Mukesh, known for his fearless reporting was last seen on January 1, leaving his home in Bijapur’s Pujari Para.

His brother, Yukesh Chandrakar, filed a missing person’s complaint the next day, tracing Mukesh’s last phone location to a barn in Chhatan Para Basti owned by one of his cousins, contractor Suresh Chandrakar.

Inquiries about the premises uncovered 17 worker rooms locked and a newly cemented septic tank. Suresh insisted that the construction was routine work, but the story sounded suspicious.

Why was he killed?

Mukesh, whose investigative reporting on corruption in road construction contracts had stirred local authorities and allegedly affected members of his family, was found buried in a cemented septic tank.

Mukesh’s last phone calls and the CCTV footage disclosed a sequence of actions that pointed fingers at his cousins, Suresh, Ritesh, and Dinesh Chandrakar, and their supervisor Mahendra Ramteke for a well-thought-out conspiracy.

According to the SIT, the murder was premeditated. Mukesh had exposed widespread corruption in road construction contracts linked to his cousins. The exposé prompted an investigation into Suresh’s business dealings, enraging him and his brothers.

On January 1, Mukesh was tricked by Ritesh to a barn under the pretext of having dinner. Once in the barn, Mukesh was beaten with an iron rod, strangled, and stabbed. Then he was hidden in a septic tank, and the conspirators sealed it in haste, making it a proof-hardening one. The mobile phones of Mukesh were broken and thrown into the Tumnar River to clear the digital records.

Dinesh confessed before interrogations that he had helped in the killing and had covered up the whole murder. Ritesh was arrested later with the help of Telangana and Maharashtra police from Raipur airport, and Suresh was arrested in Hyderabad.

The SIT utilized sophisticated technological equipment, involving artificial intelligence, open-source intelligence (OSINT), and deleted data analysis during call record screening.

They replayed the scene of the crime twice to try and authenticate statements given in custody, which in fact helped reveal critical evidence for investigation, particularly the murder instrument and blood-smeared attires.

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