Order CBI inquiry into death of journalist probing sand mafia: Jyotiraditya Scindia

An SIT probe has already been ordered into the suspicious death of a journalist in a road accident.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia has called for a CBI inquiry into the alleged murder of a journalist who was investigating possible links between the sand mafia and police in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind. Police have already announced a special investigative team (SIT) to investigate the incident.

The 35-year-old investigative journalist, Sandeep Sharma, was on a two-wheeler and was run over by a sand-dumper truck on Monday morning, sparking allegations that he had been bumped off by the sand mafia. A video clip of the incident went viral on social media.

"He was killed in broad daylight. Nothing less than a CBI inquiry should be done," said Scindia, the Lok Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh's Guna constituency. "Media is the fourth pillar of democracy, and it is being crushed under BJP's rule," he said.

Scindia has shown indications that he could be priming himself to challenge the BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the post of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister in the Assembly elections later this year. As his party's possible Chief Ministerial face, the Congress leader will be looking to unseat Chouhan, who is presently in his third consecutive term as CM.

#WATCH:Chilling CCTV footage of moment when Journalist Sandeep Sharma was run over by a truck in Bhind. He had been reporting on the sand mafia and had earlier complained to Police about threat to his life. #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/LZxNuTLyap — ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2018

A video clip of Sharma's death has raised questions that he may have been murdered. Adding to speculations of foul play is the fact that the journalist had previously complained to the police of threats to his life. He had at the time said the threats were because of the investigations he was carrying out for his reportage. Now, an SIT has been formed to look into the tragic incident.

Local media reports say the incident took place close to a police station, and that cops reached the spot almost immediately. They said the area had been cordoned off. Sharma had been rushed to the hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.