TV journalist Sulabh Srivastava, who exposed liquor mafia, dies under mysterious circumstances in UP, FIR registered against unknown persons

Initial investigation by the local police suggested that Srivastava fell after his bike collided with a handpump along the road. Just a day before his death, Srivastava had written to the Uttar Pradesh Police seeking police protection. In his letter, he had claimed that he felt threatened following his recent reportage of liquor mafias in the district.

LUCKNOW: Sulabh Srivastava, a TV journalist who had exposed the local liquor mafia, died under mysterious circumstances in the Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh.

According to reports, Srivastava, who was working with a leading TV news channel, was returning from Lalganj where he met with an accident late on Sunday. He was taken to a district hospital where doctors declared him dead. 

Initial investigation by the local police suggested that Srivastava fell after his bike collided with a handpump along the road. Just a day before his death, Srivastava had written to the Uttar Pradesh Police seeking protection. In his letter, he had claimed that he felt threatened following his recent reportage of liquor mafias in the district.

Seeking protection, Srivastava had said he had been informed by well-placed sources that the liquor mafia was angry with him after the publication of his report and wanted to harm him or his family.

While his family members suspect a foul play in his death, the Pratapgarh Police said that the journalist died in a ‘motorcycle accident.’

"Srivastava was returning on his motorcycle after media coverage, at around 11 PM on Sunday. He fell from his motorcycle near a brick kiln. Some labourers lifted him from the road and then used his phone to call his friends. He was taken to the district hospital where the doctors declared him dead," the Pratapgarh Police said in a statement.

The police also added that the initial probe revealed that Srivastava fell after his "bike collided with a handpump along the road". The police also added that they are probing other angles in the matter.

Sulabh Shrivastava, a scribe, was returning from Lalganj where he met with an accident. He was taken to district hospital where doctors declared him dead. Initial probe revealed that Srivastava fell after his bike collided with handpump along road: Pratapgarh police pic.twitter.com/vc8y23acst

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 14, 2021

The Pratapgarh Police today registered an FIR against unidentified persons in connection with the reporter’s death. 

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath`s government saying that "the liquor mafia has killed from Aligarh to Pratapgarh but the UP government is silent (sic)".

She asked in a tweet, "Does the UP government, which nurtures `jungle raj`, have an answer to the tears of the family members of journalist Sulabh Srivastava?"

शराब माफिया अलीगढ़ से प्रतापगढ़ तक:पूरे प्रदेश में मौत का तांडव करें।

उप्र सरकार चुप।

पत्रकार सच्चाई उजागर करे, प्रशासन को खतरे के प्रति आगाह करे।

सरकार सोई है।

क्या जंगलराज को पालने-पोषने वाली उप्र सरकार के पास पत्रकार सुलभ श्रीवास्तव जी के परिजनों के आंसुओं का कोई जवाब है?

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 14, 2021

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) also demanded a high-level inquiry into the death of a journalist, who had recently reported on the liquor mafia, apparently in a road accident.

"The mysterious death of a TV reporter in an alleged accident is extremely sad. The BJP government in this case should constitute a high-level probe, and tell the family members and the public that despite the apprehension of murder by the liquor mafia expressed by the reporter, why he was not provided security," SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.