MP scribe did sting op on sand mafia... mowed down by sand truck

Bhind (MP): A journalist was killed in a road accident in Madhya Pradesh, police and officials said on Monday, amid allegations by his family members that it is a case of murder. Sandeep Sharma, who worked for a local news channel in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, and who had complained about threats to his life after he carried out a sting operation on illegal sand mining, was on Monday mowed down by a truck in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.

Sharma, 35, had told the district administration he feared he would be killed by the sand mafia, his nephew, Vikas Purohit, said in a complaint to the police. The journalist was talking on his phone by the side of Ater Road in Bhind in front of a police station when the truck, used to ferry sand, ran over him, officials said.

Purohit, in his complaint to the city Kotwali police in Bhind, alleged that Sharma had been facing a threat to his life because of the recent sting operation he had carried out on the sand mafia. "Sandeep had petitioned the Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP), Inspector General (IG), Superintendent of Police (SP) and the Human Rights Commission stating that he feared for his life and had demanded security," Purohit said.

In his report to the top officials, Sharma had said that because of the sting operation against the sand mafia and the Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), the officer was transferred, Purohit claimed. Sharma was to have recorded his statement against the SDPO and was being threatened by unidentified people, Purohit added.

Bhind SP Prashant Khare said Sharma's application to the authorities was being examined and the incident probed. The driver of the truck fled the scene after the accident, the police said.

"We have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the entire incident. A case under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) has been registered," Khare said.