Indian journalist set on fire after accusing minister over land grabs

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jun/10/indian-journalist-joginder-singh-set-on-fire

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Police are investigating the death of a journalist set on fire after he accused a state minister of being involved in illegal mining and land seizures in northern India.

The freelance journalist, Joginder Singh, gave a statement to a magistrate before dying on Monday from burns covering 60% of his body. Insp Gen Satish Ganesh said Singh had implicated Uttar Pradesh state’s dairy minister, Ram Murti Singh Yadav, as well as two police officers in the attack on 1 June. No arrests have been made.

The minister has made no public comments or appearances since 1 June.

The journalist’s son, Raghvendra Singh, said it was not the first time his father was assaulted after writing an article for a local Hindi newspaper accusing the minister of involvement in illegal mining and land-grabbing. The journalist later posted details of the investigative story on Facebook, after which he was visited by a group of six people, including two police officers in civilian clothing.

They “barged into our house and questioned my father about the posts. They started beating him up,” Raghvendra Singh said by telephone from the home in Sahajahanpur, about 112 miles (180kim) south-west of the state capita, Lucknow. “They poured petrol over him and set him on fire.”

Amnesty International demanded a thorough and impartial inquiry and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

“This horrific attack highlights the dangers that journalists can face in doing their jobs,” said Amnesty’s programme director in India, Shemeer Babu.