Journalist's wife handed Rs 10L aid as police claim 'criminal history of family'

ghaziabad: Union Minister General VK Singh on Thursday handed over the compensation cheque of Rs 10 lakh to the family of murdered journalist Vikram Joshi in Ghaziabad, promising that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party would take care of the family.

The minister visited the house of the deceased in Pratap Vihar on Thursday and handed over the cheque to his wife. Emerging out of the meeting, Singh said the entire state machinery is up against crime in the state and the murder of Vikram Joshi was most unfortunate.

Joshi was shot to death in front of his daughters on Monday night by assailants who were allegedly molesting his niece a few days back. Local police had refused to register a case against the molesters despite several complaints, following which they took it upon themselves to assault

the scribe.

Police have arrested nine people in connection with the murder, however, they have also claimed that there was an old enmity between the accused and Joshi's family over gambling. Cops alleged that Joshi's brother, Aniket had a history of involvement in gambling and that he was arrested five times in these cases.

Manish Kumar Mishra, SP (City), Ghaziabad said, "We have included all these angles as part of investigations. It also came to light that even Vikram was booked for beating a doctor in MMG hospital and other family members have a criminal history."