Shot in front of daughters, Ghaziabad journalist dies
Police say nine suspects arrested in case, UP govt criticised over law and order
nGHAZIABAD: A 35-year-old Ghaziabad-based journalist who was shot in the head in an attack in front of his two daughters on Monday night succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday, prompting opposition parties to criticise the Uttar Pradesh government on the law and order situation in the state.
Vikram Joshi, who made a complaint with the police alleging harassment of his niece on July 16, was attacked around 10.30pm on Monday when he was returning home on a two-wheeler along with his two daughters, the police said about the crime, which was caught on CCTV. He worked as a journalist with a local Hindi daily, Jan Sagar Today.
According to an investigator, a group of nine men attacked Joshi about 500 metres from his sister’s house in Mata Colony while he was returning on a motorcycle along with his two minor daughters. The group of men first assaulted him and one of them, Chotu alias Shahnoor, later opened fire at him with a countrymade gun, the police said. They said Joshi visited his sister’s house to attend the birthday celebrations of one of his nieces.
Senior superintendent of police Kalanidhi Naithani said Joshi filed a police complaint on July 16 that one of the suspects in the attack, Ravi, and his accomplices were harassing his niece. He said nine men were arrested on Tuesday and Pratap Vihar police post in-charge Raghvendra Singh was suspended for dereliction of duty as he did not pay heed to the harassment complaint lodged by Joshi.
Days before the attack, Joshi was also engaged in a scuffle with Ravi, Akash and Shahnoor after he raised objections to illegal betting by them, Naithani said. The accused are bookies and were operating in the area, the SSP said. “Ravi received injuries in the incident and from that day, he was planning to take revenge from Joshi,” he said.
“The investigation is on in the case and six of our teams have arrested nine suspects, including Chotu alias Shahnoor. More arrests are likely,” Naithani added.
“As for the family’s allegations of harassment of a niece of Joshi by the suspects, we have registered an FIR in this matter on July 21 against several men, including prime suspect Ravi Kumar, who was named by the family,” the SSP said.
The police identified the nine arrested suspects as Ravi Kumar, Shahnoor alias Chotu (goes by a single name), Mohit Kumar, Dalvir Singh, Akash Nath, Yogendra Singh, Abhishek Kant, Abhishek Mota and Mohammad Shakir, adding that they were working to nab a suspect Akash Bihari, who is on the run.
During the attack on Monday, CCTV footage showed, one of his daughters ran back to her aunt’s house, while the other tried to help a bleeding Joshi. Shortly after being shot, Joshi was admitted to a private hospital, where he died during treatment early on Wednesday. He is survived by his wife, three children and mother.
Doctors at Nehru Nagar’s Yashoda Hospital, where Joshi was admitted, said he was in a critical condition when he was brought in. “He was admitted to the ICU and put on ventilator support ever since he was brought in. There was hemorrhaging and blood loss due to critical gunshot wound. He also suffered a cardiac arrest and died at 4.01am on Wednesday,” Dr Sangeeta Garg, chief medical superintendent of Yashoda Hospital, said.
Condemning the incident, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the Yogi Adityanathled UP government over the law and order in the state. “Journalist Vikram Joshi was killed for opposing the molestation of his niece. My condolences to the bereaved family. The promise was of giving ‘Ram Raj’, but gave ‘Gundaraj’,” he said in a tweet.
The Samajwadi Party announced a financial help of Rs 2 lakh to Joshi’s family and demanded that the state government provide Rs 25 lakh to the next of kin and bear all education expense of his children.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Maywati tweeted: “The way heinous crimes like murder and those against women are continuing unabated, it is clear that instead of law and order, jungle raj is prevailing in UP. Crime virus of criminals is more active than coronavirus in UP. People are fed up and the government must address this issue.”
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal demanded “strictest punishment” for the accused.
According to the police, after the fight on July 16, the two parties lodged separate complaints at the local police post. Joshi alleged that the men harassed his niece. However, the police post incharge made the two parties reach a compromise.
“It is because of the harassment that we had a fight with these men on July 16. But police did not lodge our complaint even then. My sister went to the SSP’S office and gave a complaint but nothing happened. They were planning an attack on us a day before Joshi got shot. Chotu and the others had come to Ravi’s house with firearms. When my sister saw this, she called me up and I, along with Vikram and other family members, confronted them,” Joshi’s sister Payal, who goes by single name, said.
“Chotu and the others threatened us but Vikram sorted out the matter. On the night of July 20, he was going back home when the group shot him,” she said.
The family also raised concerns over their safety and said the men may come out on bail and attack them. “We have provided them police cover,” Naithani said.
The district administration said in a statement: “The UP government has announced a financial aid of ₹10 lakh to Joshi’s family. Free education will be arranged for his children and the family was also assured of a job to his wife as per her qualification.”