A 22-year-old journalist’s body was found on a railway track in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, PTI reported on Friday. A case was filed against a sub-inspector and a constable after the journalist’s family alleged that they had murdered him.
Sub-Inspector Sunita Chaurasia, her driver Amar Singh and the constable were charged under Section 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code for the death of Suraj Pandey, according to The Hindu. The police have not yet made any arrests in the case.
Additional Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Pandey said all three of them have also been suspended for disappearing from their place of posting without permission, PTI reported.
The police, however, said it seemed like Pandey had died by suicide. Unnao Superintendent of Police Sureshrao A Kulkarni told the newspaper that the journalist’s post-mortem report showed he was hit by a train. He added that the police will investigate all angles in the case thoroughly.
The journalist’s uncle told The Hindu that Pandey left home on Thursday morning and his phone became unreachable soon after. He added that family got to know about his death in the evening. “He has been murdered,” Pandey’s uncle alleged. “Someone had come to take him somewhere. He also said that if the police look at CCTV footage, they will find out who murdered his nephew.
The police said that Pandey’s phone records showed him to be in regular contact with the sub-inspector, The Indian Express reported. They added that Pandey wanted to marry her, but she did not agree.
The journalist’s mother said the sub-inspector used to visit their house often. She alleged that her driver had threatened Pandey a day before his death.
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