Raipur: Suresh Chandrakar, the prime suspect in the murder of journalist Mukesh Chandrakar in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, has been arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Hyderabad, a police official confirmed on Monday.
Suresh Chandrakar, a contractor by profession, had been on the run since the discovery of Mukesh Chandrakar’s murder on January 3. The SIT, which was formed to investigate the case, apprehended him late Sunday night in Hyderabad, the official said.
Earlier, the police had arrested Suresh Chandrakar's brothers, Ritesh Chandrakar and Dinesh Chandrakar and supervisor Mahendra Ramteke in connection with the murder.
Mukesh Chandrakar, a 33-year-old freelance journalist, had gone missing on January 1. His body was found two days later, on January 3, in a septic tank at a property owned by Suresh Chandrakar in Chattanpara Basti, Bijapur. According to police reports, Mukesh was investigating alleged corruption linked to a road construction project in Bijapur, which was reportedly associated with the accused contractor, Suresh Chandrakar.
A report aired by NDTV on December 25 exposed corruption in the road project, and police suspect this to be the motive behind the murder.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma had previously claimed that Suresh Chandrakar was affiliated with the Congress party. However, the opposition has contested this, asserting that the accused had recently joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The investigation into the murder is ongoing, with the SIT working to uncover further details about the crime and the possible motivations behind it.
With PTI inputs