Raipur: Chhattisgarh's government has announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the family of slain journalist Mukesh Chandrakar and also promised to construct a journalist building in his honor. Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai made this announcement prior to his visit to Balrampur district on Tuesday.
Political experts view this move as an attempt to quell Congress's ongoing criticism regarding the government's inaction in the Chandrakar murder case. Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and state Congress president Deepak Baij have claimed that the journalist's family has not received any support from the BJP government.
In response to the financial aid announcement, the BJP released a cartoon on Tuesday that criticized Congress, depicting accused contractor Suresh Chandrakar killing Mukesh alongside Deepak Baij.
The BJP is trying to shift the blame onto Congress, especially since images of the accused Suresh with a Congress MLA have circulated on social media. Suresh was also a Congress office-bearer, while Congress continues to label him as a close associate of the BJP.
Mukesh Chandrakar was brutally murdered on January 1, with his body found in a septic tank. The contractor and his brother are currently jailed as part of the investigation led by the SIT, which claims Mukesh exposed irregularities in a Rs 120 crore road construction inflated project.
Contractor Suresh, along with his brother Dinesh, Ritesh, and site supervisor Mahendra Ramteka, allegedly conspired to kill the journalist. After the body was discovered on January 3, police arrested Mukesh's cousins Dinesh, Ritesh, and Mahendra on January 4, while Suresh was apprehended in Hyderabad.
