UP journalist who reported against liquor mafia dies in ‘motorcycle crash’

Reporter Sulabh Srivastava had recently written to police seeking protection. Police said the crash took place while he was returning after reporting on an illegal arms-producing unit.

Representational image | A man puts in bottles of alcohol in his trouser pockets | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

Pratapgarh: A 42-year-old news channel reporter died after his motorcycle rammed a pole near a brick kiln here, police said on Monday.

The reporter, Sulabh Srivastava, recently ran a news story against the liquor mafia, and two days back, he had written to the Prayagraj additional director general of police, seeking protection.

Also, Additional Superintendent of Police Surendra Dwivedi said the crash took place on Sunday when Srivastava was returning from Asrahi village under the Lalganj police station area after reporting on an illegal arms manufacturing unit uncovered there.

After the crash, Srivastava was taken to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead, he said.

The officer said police were probing various angles and the body of the deceased was sent for a post-mortem examination.

Akhilesh expresses condolences, demands govt probe

The Samajwadi Party on Monday demanded a high-level inquiry into Srivastava’s death.

“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.