The Bijapur police in Chhattisgarh Tuesday filed a 1,200-page-plus chargesheet in court against four persons accused in the murder of journalist Mukesh Chandrakar, 33. According to police, Mukesh was killed for exposing poor road construction work done by the prime accused, contractor Suresh Chandrakar, who was also his relative. The cold-blooded murder took place on the night of January 1, hours after he went missing. On January 3, a day after his brother filed a missing complaint, Mukesh’s body was traced to a septic tank on a property in Chhatanpara that belongs to Suresh. The chargesheet has been filed before a magistrate court in Bijapur. According to police, Suresh’s brother Ritesh and an employee, Mahendra Ramteke, allegedly carried out the murder. Mukesh, police say, was hit multiple times with an iron rod and his body was disposed of in the tank, which was then covered with concrete. While probing the missing person complaint on January 2, the police learnt that his phone’s last location was at Suresh’s property. During searches at the property, which comprises 14 rooms and a badminton court, a freshly laid concrete cover over the tank raised a red flag, and Mukesh’s body was discovered. Police then started searching for Ritesh, who had called Mukesh to meet him that night. During the investigation, police learnt that the accused were angry with Mukesh for working on a news report published by NDTV about poor road construction work in Bijapur, where Suresh was the main contractor. The news report led to an inquiry not only on this particular road construction project but also two other projects handled by Suresh. The estimated cost of the three road projects was around Rs 170 crore. Apart from Suresh, Ritesh and Mahendra, the chargesheet also names Dinesh, the contractor’s brother. There are 72 witnesses in the case and evidence includes CCTV footage and call data record analysis. Additional Superintendent of Police Mayank Gurjar, who headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the murder case, said, “During the investigation, digital and physical evidence were closely monitored and properly included in the chargesheet. All efforts are being taken to ensure all four accused get stringent punishment from the court.” Asked about the motive, a senior official said, “Suresh was angry with Mukesh for exposing the poor road construction work. The inquiry against him also led to GST raids on his premises, and he was fined around Rs 20 lakh.” “Suresh called Mukesh multiple times before the murder. He was worried… uska samrajya toot jayega (that his empire would crumble),” the official said. The official added, "A few days before the murder, Suresh invited Mukesh to meet him at his Bijapur residence. Here, in the presence of some people, Suresh threatened Mukesh and asked him not to report on the issue any further. The GST raids took place on December 27, and Suresh kept blaming Mukesh's news report,” said the official. Mukesh was a noted journalist in Bastar who had earned recognition for his field reports from core Naxal area and for highlighting the rights of tribals. He started his own YouTube Channel named Bastar Junction. At the time of his death, it had 1.59 lakh subscribers and 2.87 crore views, which have now increased to 2.01 lakh subscribers and 3.6 crore. When contacted, his brother Yukesh, who is also a journalist with a news channel and had filed the missing complaint, said, "I will comment on the investigations after I get to know about the details in the chargesheet.”
