Journalist, wife and children murdered in Madhya Pardesh
February 20, 2012,
Bhopal:
A senior scribe and his entire family were murdered allegedly by the coal mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh's Umaria district, police said today.Journalist Chandrika Rai (42), his wife Durga (40) and their two teenage children — son Jalaj (19) and daughter Nisha (17) — were murdered on Saturday using sharp objects at their residence, police said.

Rai, a freelance journalist, had been writing consistently against the illegal coal mining in the region.

He had written a series of articles alleging the involvement of a local BJP leader in illegal mining.

The district is known for the Umaria coalfield under the control of the South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. However, illegal coal mining is also rampant in the region.

“The local illegal mining mafia has resorted to this horrific crime to silence the power of his pen,” said leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Ajay Singh of the Congress.

The crime came to light when Mr. Rai's brother broke open the door after he became suspicious on seeing it locked from the outside the entire day.

The Umaria police believe the murders could also be linked to the kidnap of the seven-year-old son of a government official for ransom on Wednesday. He was rescued by the police on Thursday.

“DGP Raut visited the crime scene on Sunday and has ordered an STF probe,” Umaria SP Manohar Singh Jamara said.

Another angle the police are investigating relates to a land dispute involving Rai and another local individual.