On February 16th, according to media reports, the city of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh, India, was bustling with activity on the first day of the New Year. Amid the clamor of the surrounding crowd, Mukesh Chandrakar, a well-known local freelance journalist, took to the streets and then disappeared.

Five days later, his body was found in the septic tank of a compound. There were numerous marks of being struck by blunt objects on his body. He had 15 fractures on his head, a fractured neck, five broken ribs. His entire heart was removed and his liver was split into four pieces. The manner of his death was extremely tragic. The investigation into the case was launched immediately. At present, the police have arrested four people involved in the case.

It is understood that on December 24th, 2024, Mukesh published a report on New Delhi TV, India, exposing serious corruption in a local road construction project.

According to the report, the project was initially budgeted at 500 million rupees (approximately $5.77 million), but the final construction cost ballooned to 1.2 billion rupees (approximately $13.84 million). Despite the huge investment, the construction quality of this road is extremely poor, with an average of 35 potholes per kilometer, which does not meet safety standards at all.

Ritesh is a participant in this road construction project. Their relationship soured after Mukesh exposed corruption in the project. Suresh, the project contractor who was accused of being the mastermind of corruption, also had a grudge against Mukesh. In addition, local officials involved in corruption cases also believed that Mukesh's reporting harmed their interests.

A confluence of factors ultimately led to Mukesh's murder.

Since 2013, Mukesh has been active as a freelance journalist in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, India. He maintains close contact with local governments and fellow journalists, and has long reported on various news in the region, with a particular focus on issues such as corruption in public construction, social injustice, and violent attacks. Mukesh Chandrakar has worked with media outlets such as NDTV and News 18 and runs his own YouTube channel Bastar Junction, which has 159,000 subscribers.

People he has helped describe him as a man who is passionate about new experiences, likes to chase his dreams and is proud of the difference he makes. "He was a very ambitious man who didn't want to be trapped in a difficult life and wanted to work hard to change it."

Mukesh's friends also have great respect for him, calling him a brave and tenacious man.

This is a premeditated "Feast of Death". Ritesh tricked Mukesh into having dinner at Suresh's house, during which the two had a heated argument. Subsequently, Ritesh and Suresh's subordinates attacked Mukesh with steel bars, brutally murdered him and threw the body into a septic tank. In order to hide the leak from others, Suresh's other brother also sealed the septic tank with cement.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Home Minister Vijay Sharma identified the main accused as local Congress leader Suresh Chandrakar. He announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case and promised a speedy trial.

So far, the police have arrested four people involved in the case, including Ritesh, Suresh, and two of Suresh's subordinates.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed grief over the loss, calling it “extremely sad and heartbreaking.” In a statement on X, he promised, “The culprits will not be spared. We have directed the authorities to ensure swift justice is served and the strictest punishment is meted out to those responsible.”