UP Police Nabs 5 Suspects In Sensational Killing Of Journalist In Fatehpur

Banda: A journalist was attacked and brutally stabbed to death in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur under the Sadar Kotwali police station area over alleged financial irregularities in a property dispute. According to the UP police, the journalist was killed in a knife attack in the Sadar Kotwali area of Fatehpur, about three days ago, following which the police launched a search operation on Saturday and arrested five suspects in connection with the case. 

A senior police official identified the journalist as Dileep Saini, a Fatehpur district-level correspondent of a news outlet, who some knife-wielding people attacked on Wednesday night near the Bhitaura bypass in Fatehpur. He later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Kanpur, police said.

Nagar Kotwali inspector-in-charge Tarkeshwar Rai said the arrested suspects have been identified as Ankit Tiwari (25), Bablu alias Jitendra Patel (32), Vipin Sharma (35), Chikkan alias Ashish Kumar (33), and a revenue clerk named Sunil Rana.

"Four other named suspects and six unidentified individuals are still on the run. We are considering taking action against them under the Gangster Act," Rai said.

The police initially attributed the motive behind the killing to a property dispute involving financial transactions.

Meanwhile, a group of journalists on Saturday staged a protest against Saini's killing and submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate seeking death penalty for those responsible for the act.

Wearing black armbands, they marched from the Civil Lines to the district court where they submitted the memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to the district magistrate.

"All the journalists in the district are united in seeking justice for Dilip Saini. We demand Rs 1 crore compensation for Saini's family, a government job for his younger brother, and the death penalty for the perpetrators," Ajay Singh Bhadauria, president of the district journalist association, said.