UP scribe's murder: SC seeks reply from Centre, Akhilesh government

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government on a plea seeking CBI probe into the alleged murder of a journalist Jagendra Singh by setting him afire in Shahjahanpur district in which an SP minister and five others have been booked.

A bench of Justices M Y Eqbal and Arun Mishra asked the Centre and others to file their response within two weeks.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Delhi-based journalist Satish Jain seeking a court-monitored CBI probe into the death of the scribe.

Jagendra was allegedly set on fire by police officials during a raid at his house in Awas Vikas Colony of Sadar Bazar area on June 1 and he succumbed to the injuries on June 8.

An FIR was registered against UP Minister Ram Murti Singh Verma and five cops on the basis of a complaint by Jagendra's son Raghvendra after the journalist passed away during treatment at a hospital in Lucknow.

According to the family members of the deceased, Jagendra had posted something on Facebook against Verma regarding his alleged involvement in illegal mining and land grabbing, after which the minister sent cops to his house who doused Jagendra with kerosene oil and set him on fire.

The FIR has been lodged under IPC 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The Allahabad High Court had on June 16 directed the UP government to file a status report within a week in the case and asked it to inform it about the stage of investigation by June 24 on a PIL filed by 'We The People', an NGO.