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Journalist murder: ₹25,000 reward announced on arrest of absconding suspect
Ghaziabad police have obtained a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against an absconding suspect, who was allegedly involved in the murder of journalist Vikram Joshi (35)
Ghaziabad police have obtained a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against an absconding suspect, who was allegedly involved in the murder of journalist Vikram Joshi (35) on July 20.
The police have also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for any information that can lead to the arrest of the Akash Bihari, who is on the run..
The police said that Bihari was part of the group of assailants, who were present at the scene of crime when Joshi was fatally shot at on the fateful night.
Joshi , a journalist with a local Hindi newspaper,had been attacked by the assailants near Mata Colony in Ghaziabad’s Vijay Nagar late in the night on July 20, when was going back home on his two-wheeler with his two minor daughters riding pillion. He succumbed to his critical gunshot injuries a day later , with police having arrested nine people till then in connection with his murder.
Preliminary investigations had revealed that suspects had a fight with Joshi’s family on July 16.
Later, though Joshi’s family members had wanted to file a complaint against the men for allegedly harassing his niece, the police purportedly did not register the first information report (FIR).
“Akash Bihari, the 10th suspect in the murder case, is absconding. We have obtained a non-bailable warrant against him and a reward of Rs 25,000 has also been announced. Bihari is on the run since the shooting incident and several teams are trying to trace him. He was present with others at the scene of crime on the night of July 20,” said Manish Mishra, superintendent of police (SP), Ghaziabad city.
“An inquiry is underway in the case on the allegations of laxity shown by police,” he added.
One of the accused, Shahnoor alias Chotu, had allegedly shot at Joshi from point-blank range. The bullet had gone through Joshi’s head that ultimately led to his death around 4am on July 21.
The police filed an FIR for harassment on the day Joshi had succumbed to his injuries and named two persons from the group as accused , along with two others.
The Pratap Vihar police post in-charge has been suspended for not registering a complaint that Joshi’s family had wanted to file on July 16.
The station house officer (SHO) of Vijay Nagar police station was also shunted to police lines for his alleged lack of supervision in the case that led to Joshi’s murder.
