A state is simmering with violence, curfews and protests. At least 10 have been killed in the fracas, the army has been called in, curfews are in place in major cities and the protesters have threatened to cut off supply of essential commodities such as milk and vegetables if their demands aren’t met. Gujarat is facing its most turbulence in years, as members of the Patel community have taken to the streets demanding reservations.

You would think Gujarat, with its recent history of violence, would be the biggest news of the day. Not for some of India's newspapers and TV channels though. Rather than cover the Patel agitation, headlines and airtime have been dominated by a two-year old murder mystery involving the rich and influential, albeit with little actual public impact beyond the fascination for scandal.

Media honcho Peter Mukherjea’s wife Indrani Mukherjea has been charged with murder of her daughter Sheena Bora in 2012 and her arrest in connection with the case has kept the mainstream media more than occupied. While skeletons tumble out of Mukherjeas’ closet one after the other, the Gujarat protests, which had been front-page news for two days prior, have taken a back seat. Headlines and primetime shows on news channels on Thursday and Friday preferred to try to connect the dots in the whodunit rather than report on the violence in Gujarat.







 

Here’s a look at the major papers in the country and how their front pages appeared on Friday morning.

The nation’s best selling newspaper Times of India dedicated its top half (the rest was advertising) of the front page to Peter Mukherjea’s admission that he knew Sheena Bora was indeed his wife’s daughter as opposed to her sister. Apart from the lead story, the front page also allotted space to other revelations in the case coming from various actors in the story.



On the other hand, The Telegraph ran with the case as its lead story covering almost the full page barring a small section towards the end which detailed on the ongoing protest marches in West Bengal by distressed farmers and the police action that followed.



Meanwhile, The Hindustan Times gave prominence to both Gujarat and Sheena Bora case on its front page.


                                                                             


The Indian Express too ran with an interview with Hardik Patel, the 22-year old  convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti who is leading the agitation. On the left side of the interview, though, was an equally prominent story on the Sheena Bora murder case.



The Hindu’s front page looked no different as the newspaper gave preference to Hardik Patel and Smart Cities as its top stories on the front page which also featured Sheena Bora case in a big way.


                                                                         

Gujarat violence, however, fell off the radar of the Hindi press which gave preference to stories ranging from Sheena Bora case to stock market jump that happened on Thursday.

Times Group-owned Navbharat Times ran with a headline that literally translates to “Another Pakistani terrorist in arrest” for its top story. Other stories featured prominently on the front pages included the announcement of Smart Cities while Sheena Bora case and Gujarat violence were limited to small boxes.



Amar Ujala, meanwhile claimed that Sheena Bora was pregnant during the time of her death in its top story. The front page featured stories on the captured terrorist, Supreme Court order regarding toll taxes on roads and Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkie.


                                                                                    


Gujarati press, meanwhile, reported on the Patel agitation in a big way but some papers found enough space on their front pages to squeeze in the latest on the murder mystery too.

Divya Bhaskar was one such paper which ran with Patel agitation as the lead story and put Sheena Bora case towards the end.


Mid-Day’s Ahmedabad edition, meanwhile, gave much more prominence to Hardik Patel's agitation.


The Tribune from Punjab, led with Pakistan militant capture and Thursday’s communication satellite launch by Indian Space Research Organisation as its lead stories.


Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna from Maharashtra prominently featured both Gujarat and Sheena Bora murder case.


On the other hand, 24X7 news channels both chose to feature Sheena Bora case as the lead stories in their prime time broadcasts. Starting from Times Now which had Arnab Goswami interviewing Peter Mukherjea to NDTV which had Barkha Dutt debate on “Who Killed Indrani and Why is Everyone Lying”.