Wife of scribe in UP who died of burns threatens to immolate self, demands arrest of killers

The wife of a local Hindi daily journalist, Rakesh Singh (45), in Balrampur who died in a mysterious fire on Friday, has threatened to immolate herself in front of the district magistrate’s office if the alleged killers were not arrested by Tuesday.

The Uttar Pradesh police are yet to arrive at any conclusion in the case.

Vibha Singh, the journalist’s wife had alleged criminal conspiracy behind the incident and said that her husband and his friend Pintu Sahu, 36, were burnt to death by some local muscleman. The journalist and his friend had died when a mysterious fire broke out in his village house under Kotwali Dehat police area in Balrampur district on Friday night. Sahu had died on the spot while Singh succumbed to his injuries in a Lucknow hospital after suffering 90% burn injuries.

The wife of the deceased, along with her two daughters, family members and local residents staged a protest and refused to cremate the body on Sunday until her husband’s alleged killers were arrested. She gave the deadline of 48 hours to the police and the district administration after which she said she would immolate herself. She finally agreed to cremate the body after an assurance by local MLA Paltu Ram.

A local police official said journalist’s father Munna Singh had earlier lodged a complaint against 4-5 unidentified people for allegedly setting his son and his friend ablaze after locking them inside the house. “Seconds before his death, the journalist had said that he was targeted as he was working on some big news. He, however, did not mention any person behind the incident,” he added.

The official said the police had interrogated five people in the matter but had failed to reach any conclusion so far.

Balrampur superintendent of police (SP) Dev Ranjan Verma did not respond to calls. Earlier on Saturday, he had told media persons that the door of the house was found locked from outside, which has raised a suspicion. He said three suspects of the same village, including former village pradhan Ram Surat, Ravi Chauhan and Babu Mishra, were detained for questioning.