The Madhya Pradesh police on Thursday claimed to have cracked the murder case of journalist Chandrika Rai and his family members by arresting the 31-year-old driver employed with the scribe.
The Special Task Force (STF) which was entrusted with the investigations also sought to shoot down its earlier claim that the scribe was killed by a gang of kidnappers whom he was blackmailing.
“Ramesh Yadav, who was employed with the slain scribe since September 2011 killed Rai along with his wife, son and daughter and decamped with `22,000 in cash, 22 tolas of gold and half-kg of silver after the murders...He was arrested yesterday,” the additional DG, STF, Sanjay Choudhary and additional DG, CID, M.R. Krishna told a press conference on Thursday.
“Right now, we are in a position to say that the killings have nothing to do with any kidnapping,” they said.
Rai along with his wife Durga, son Jalaj and daughter Nisha was allegedly bludgeoned to death with iron rod by Yadav at his house in Umaria town on the intervening night of Februay 17-18.