Journalist Vikram Joshi who was shot in UP’s Ghaziabad, passes away

Ghaziabad: Vikram Joshi (35), a Ghaziabad-based journalist with a local Hindi newspaper, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital early morning on Wednesday

Ghaziabad: Vikram Joshi (35), a Ghaziabad-based journalist with a local Hindi newspaper, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital early morning on Wednesday after he was shot at by a group of men in front of his two minor daughters on Monday late evening.

HT Image

The police arrested nine people in connection with the crime on Tuesday, while one suspect is absconding.

Joshi, who was on way on his bike along with his two minor daughters, was cornered by a group of men at Mata Colony in Ghaziabad on Monday late evening and was roughed up. Soon, one of the attackers shot at him from a close range and he sustained bullet injuries in his head.

“Joshi was admitted to the intensive care unit and was put on ventillator support. There were internal haemorrhage and acute blood loss due to the gunshot injury in his head. He suffered cardiac arrest and expired at 4:01 am on Wednesday,” said Dr. Sangeeta Garg, chief medical superintendent, Yashoda Hospital, Nehru Nagar, Ghaziabad.

On Monday morning, Joshi’s family members refused to take his body away for a post-mortem examination and demanded

to speak to the district magistrate (DM) Ajay Shankar Pandey and the senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ghaziabad, Kalanidhi Naithani, who later arrived at Yashoda Hospital.

“The DM spoke to the deceased’s family members and offered financial help, including taking care of his minor daughters’ education and a job for his wife depending upon her educational qualification. Later, the family members allowed his body to be taken away for an autopsy,” said Rakesh Mishra, circle officer, City-1, Ghaziabad Police.

The SSP, however, was unavailable for his comments, despite repeated attempts by HT.

“The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government and district administration are concerned about the murder of Joshi. The state government has announced an Rs 10-lakh compensation to his family. Free education will be arranged for his two minor daughters. The family was also assured of a job to his wife as per her educational qualification,” said the district information officer.

The police have identified the nine suspects as Ravi Kumar, Chotu (who goes by a single name), Mohit Kumar, Dalvir Singh, Akash Nath, Yogendra Singh, Abhishek Kant, Abhishek Mota, and Mohammad Shakir, while another one, Akash Bihari, is still absconding.

All suspects are residents of the same locality in Ghaziabad.

Earlier on July 16, a fight had broken out between Joshi’s family and the rival group after which both parties had approached the local police authorities in Vijay Nagar. The rival group alleged that Ravi Kumar -- one of the suspects behind the journalist’s murder --sustained severe injuries, while Joshi’s family alleged that the men were harassing the journalist’s niece.

The police said that investigation is on over Joshi family’s allegations of harassment of the girl.

The police said Ravi was hospitalised after the July 16 fistfight, but he sent his accomplices to physically assault Joshi on Monday late evening. Joshi was shot at in the presence of his two minor daughters. The incident was caught on closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras, where one of his minor daughters was seen crying for help after Joshi sustained bullet injuries in his head.

“Nine people, including Ravi, have been arrested. One suspect is still on the run. The SSP has suspended the local police post in-charge and a departmental probe has been initiated against him,” Mishra added.

The incident has snowballed into a raging political controversy, as former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday morning tweeted and offered condolences to Joshi’s family and also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led UP government over its rising crime graph.

“Vada tha Ram raj ka, de diya gundraj (Ram raj was promised but they gave gunda raj),” Gandhi tweeted.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also weighed in on the incident.

“My heartfelt condolences to the family members of Vikram Joshi, a fearless journalist, who passed away on Wednesday morning. He was shot in UP for filing an FIR to book his niece’s molesters. An atmosphere of fear has been created in the country. Voices are being muzzled. Media not spared. Shocking,” Banerjee tweeted.

On Tuesday, Priyanka Gandhi, general secretary, Congress; and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav also slammed the UP government and questioned the worsening law and order in the country’s most populous state.

“The government has directed the Ghaziabad administration for all help to Joshi’s family and financial assistance. Besides free education to his children, his wife will get a job in the state government. The police have acted promptly in the case and nine people were arrested. An investigation is on in the case,” said Chandra Mohan, BJP’s UP spokesperson.