The police in Niwari, Madhya Pradesh, on Friday arrested one of the seven accused in the killing of a former newspaper agency owner on Wednesday.
“So far, one person has been arrested,” Superintendent of Police Vahni Singh told The Hindu. “We have given the family of the victim security. Five personnel have been deployed outside their house. We are proceeding with the investigation but yet to nab the rest.”
The police have claimed Sunil Tiwari was killed over an old rivalry on his way back home to Putri Khera village in the evening. Later, he died at the Jhansi Hospital in Uttar Pradesh.
Death threats
Months before the incident, claimed the police, Sunil had released a video purportedly saying he had informed the SP about death threats. “I am a simple journalist who revealed some of their irregularities,” he said in the video. “I got two of their licences cancelled which they got in a fake manner.”
When asked if the police acted then, Ms. Singh said, “The video was reportedly released in May. I was not in the district back then.” She however, added that when the video was brought to her knowledge, she took preventive action. “One of the accused, Awadesh Tiwari, was included in the gunda list as he has several pending cases against him,” she said.
Meanwhile, Virendra Tiwari, Gwalior city editor of Naidunia, the Hindi newspaper whose agency Sunil reportedly owned, said the last he owned it was four months ago. “However, he was not our correspondent there.”
Yet, Sunil’s brother told reporters earlier he was a correspondent with the daily. “There was a years-old dispute between the two sides,” he said.
As for whether gunshot wounds killed Sunil, Ms. Singh said the post-mortem revealed he died due to contusions and excessive bleeding caused by beating.
