A 40-year old local journalist was allegedly murdered by three persons involved in illegal mining who kidnapped him and set him ablaze apparently over his refusal to withdraw a court case, police said on Sunday. The burnt body of Sandeep Kothari, who was abducted from Katangi tehsil in Balaghat district two days back, was found dumped in a farm at Butibori area in Nagpur last night, they said.
Superintendent of Police Gaurav Tiwari said the reporter had enmity with some businessmen and had an altercation with them over publication of news items. Tiwari said cases were lodged against Kothari also. Sometime ago, the journalist was associated with a newspaper published from Jabalpur. Police have arrested three persons in connection with Kothari's murder, Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) JS Markam told media persons here today.
Police suspect the accused, identified as Rakesh Nasvani, Vishal Dandi and Brijesh Duharwal, who hailed from Katangi, had allegedly kidnapped Kothari and set him ablaze, Markam said, adding the trio was engaged in illegal mining and also running chit fund companies. They were pressurizing Kothari, who was working as a tehsil correspondent for some Jabalpur-based Hindi dailies, to withdraw a case of illegal mining he had filed against some persons in a local court.
Police suspect Kothari was kidnapped and murdered because he refused to withdraw the case."We are investigating the case from all angles and a police team is camping in Nagpur. It will be premature to conclude the exact reason behind the Kothari was abducted on June 19 night when he was headed towards Umri village with his friend on his bike. His bike was hit by a four-wheeler and its occupants bundled him inside the vehicle and fled before beating up Kothari's friend Rahandle who was riding pillion, the SDOP said.
Police have seized the car used for kidnapping Kothari, he added. Notably, Kothari was abducted by some car-borne people near Katangi when he was going on his motorcycle along with another person on Friday evening. The abductors took the journalist in their car after forcing his companion to leave the place. Police team swung into action soon after Kothari's abduction and arrested two accused. During interrogation, the accused reportedly said that Sandeep was killed and his body was dumped near Nagpur after setting his body on fire. A police team rushed to Nagpur on Sunday.