Chhattisgarh Journalist Murder Case: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested main accused Suresh Chandrakar in journalist Mukesh Chandrakar’s murder case.

The main accused in the murder of journalist Mukesh Chandrakar has been arrested from Hyderabad on Sunday night. Suresh Chandrakar, a contractor, is believed to be the alleged mastermind behind the murder. He was on the run since the incident came to light.

According to the police, Suresh was hiding at his driver’s residence in Hyderabad. To track him, the police reviewed footage from 200 CCTVs and traced nearly 300 mobile numbers.

The police are currently interrogating Chandrakar, officials said.

Chandrakar’s wife has also been taken into custody in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district and is being interrogated, officials added.

Chandrakar’s body was found in a septic tank in a shed owned by a contractor in Chattisgarh’s Bastar division last week. The independent journalist, who was also a contributing reporter for NDTV, was last seen leaving his home in Bijapur’s Pujari Para on New Year’s Day. When he did not return, the journalist’s brother, Yukesh, filed a missing complaint the next day.

After beginning an investigation, police found the 32-year-old’s body in Chhatan Para Basti, not very far from his home.

Three people, including two of Chandrakar’s relatives, have also been arrested in the case. While his cousin, Ritesh Chandrakar, was arrested from Raipur airport on Saturday, Mahendra Ramteke, a supervisor, and Dinesh Chandrakar, another relative of the victim, were taken into custody from Bijapur.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as early as Monday that he will resign as Liberal Party Leader, The Globe and Mail reported on Sunday, citing three sources.

The sources told the Globe and Mail that they don’t know definitely when Trudeau will announce his plans to leave but said they expect it will happen before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday.

The Canadian prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new leader is selected, the report added.

Trudeau took over as Liberal leader in 2013 when the party was in deep trouble and had been reduced to third place in the House of Commons for the first time.

Trudeau’s departure would leave the party without a permanent head at a time when polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October.

His resignation is likely to spur fresh calls for a quick election to put in place a government able to deal with the administration of President-elect Donald Trump for the next four years.

The prime minister has discussed with Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc whether he would be willing to step in as interim leader and prime minister, one source told the newspaper, adding that this would be unworkable if LeBlanc plans to run for the leadership.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)