A journalist working at a Hindi news channel was shot dead on August 24 in Uttar Pradesh. This incident comes barely a month after the murder of another journalist in Ghaziabad.
The journalist, identified as Ratan Singh, was shot dead at the residence of the village head in the Fefana area of the Ballia district.
The police first identified and arrested three men who had chased and shot him. According to the police, the murder had to do with a property dispute between Ratan Singh and the accused. However, the journalist’s family has denied this and alleged that the police are building a false narrative.
According to the police, the journalist lived in an urban part of the district, and the dispute was regarding a house in the village, which had been going on for a few years. The police also said that they suspected that Ratan Singh was beaten up before he was shot, and the village head’s husband is absconding. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him dead.
The police later arrested three more people. The main accused are Arvind Singh, Dinesh Singh and Sunil Singh. According to the family, the main culprit of the crime is the in-charge of the Fefna police station, who went to the spot in his vehicle and fled away. They accused the local police officials of misinforming senior officials about the incident and pointed out that the incident took place merely 20 steps away from the police post.
Ballia police tweeted, “Ratan Singh had an old dispute with his relatives. Three persons have been immediately taken into custody. The incident has nothing to do with journalism”.
Last month, another journalist Vikram Joshi, was shot dead in front of his daughters, after he had filed a police complaint about harassment of his niece.
