Journalist’s death in UP: Priyanka says state govt ”nurturing jungle raj”

PTI, Jun 14, 2021, 8:10 PM IST

New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government over the death of a journalist, who had recently run a story on the liquor mafia and was killed in what police said was a road accident.

The Congress general secretary accused the Yogi Adityanath dispensation of “nurturing jungle raj”.

The 42-year-old news channel reporter, Sulabh Srivastava, died as his motorcycle rammed a pole near a brick kiln in Sukhpal Nagar under the Kotwali police station area of Pratapgarh on Sunday, police said.

“The liquor mafia from Aligarh to Pratapgarh: has caused death throughout the state. The government is silent,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

“Journalists uncover the truth, warn the administration about the dangers. The government is asleep,” she alleged.

Does the government that is “nurturing jungle raj” have any answers for the tears of the family of journalist Sulabh Srivastava, Priyanka Gandhi asked.

Srivastava had recently run a news story against the liquor mafia in the region. Then on June 12, he wrote to the Prayagraj additional director general of police to seek protection.

Additional Superintendent of Police Surendra Dwivedi said Srivastava died in a crash while returning from Asrahi village under the Lalganj police station area after reporting on an illegal arms manufacturing unit uncovered there.

Following the crash, a severely injured Srivastava was taken to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead, he said.