Four days after the body of 26-year-old journalist, Chirag Patel, was found from the eastern part of Ahmedabad, the police is yet to solve the mystery behind the death.
Patel, who worked with a local vernacular television channel, left his home on March 15 and his body was found in Kathwada and Nikol area on March 16 afternoon.
His body had burn marks and his phone is missing.
Police said that they were exploring all angles, including that of suicide and homicide.
Sources in the know-how said that the probe moved at a snail's pace until Gujarat Congress in-charge and MP, Rajiv Satav tweeted, “I am shocked to hear about the brutal killing of journalist Chirag Patel. This incident is another reminder of bad law and order condition in Gujarat under BJP rule where no one is safe and even members of the press are being targeted and killed”.
Akshay Raj, DCP of Zone V in Ahmedabad, said that they had not concluded that it was a suicide. He claimed that the police had also got some points for homicide. He appealed to the media not to spread the message on social media that the police was treating the case as suicide.
There was a flutter among the BJP leaders, who were meeting in Gandhinagar to prepare a list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya expressed grief over Patel's death and said that Minister of State for Home, Pradipsinh Jadeja has issued instructions for swift action.
Independent MLA from Vadgam, Jignesh Mevani, appealed to the national media in Twitter to take up the issue of "murder of Patel".
In a letter to the DGP Shivanand Jha, Gujarat Media Club (GMC), a representative body of media professionals in Gujarat, urged to fast-track the investigation and take required measures to identify and capture the perpetrators of this heinous act and bring them to justice.
In the letter, Darshan Desai, the president of GMC, said that the GMC stands firmly with the family for its fight for justice.
