Journalist burnt alive: PCI Chairman calls it attack on freedom of press, demands SIT probe

Strongly condemning the murder of a journalist who was allegedly burnt alive at Shahjehanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Press Council of India Chairman C K Prasad on Wednesday said it was an attack on freedom of press and demanded an SIT probe into the incident.

"The murder of a journalist at Shahjehanpur in UP is certainly an attack on the freedom of the press and as such it should be treated seriously. The state government should appoint a Special Investigative Team consisting of officers of impeccable character and track record to get to the truth of the matter as it allegedly involves a minister of the state Cabinet," the PCI Chairman said at a press conference here. The journalist, Jagendra Singh, succumbed to burn injures at a government hospital in Lucknow late on Monday evening.

His son and other family members have alleged that he was set afire by the henchmen of UP Cabinet Minister Ram Murty Varma and some police personnel for writing on his alleged involvement in illegal mining and land grabbing. An FIR has been filed aginst Verma and five others for allegedly killing the journalist.

Prasad also announced that the Press Council of India (PCI) would appoint a fact-finding committee which would visit the place of the incident and submit its report on the basis of which the Council would take appropriate action.

Replying to a question, Prasad said the Press Council had already appointed a sub-committee to look into attacks and killings of journalists across the country and its report was expected shortly. PCI member K Amarnath, who is also convener of the PCI Sub-committee on Safety of Journalists, informed that the panel which visited 11 states to inquire into attacks on journalists had almost finalised its report.

"During its inquiry, the Committee found that 79 journalists were killed in the country in the last two and a half decades. "There has been conviction in very few cases and other cases are either still pending trial or the culprits have been let off by the courts for lack of evidence," he said.

He said the Committee was thinking of recommending enactment of a special law for the safety of journalists by Parliament and separate statistics should be collected by the National Crimes Statics Bureau on attacks and murder of journalists in the country.