Lucknow: A 37-year-old journalist and his friend died after a fire broke out at his house in Kalwari village in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh at midnight on Friday, the police said. Pintu Sahu (35), the friend of scribe Rakesh Singh ‘Nirbhik’, died on the spot, they said.
Rakesh succumbed to burns at Trauma Centre in Lucknow on Saturday. He was associated with the Hindi daily Rashtriya Swaroop. The police said Rakesh recorded a video statement as his dying declaration. On the basis of that, three persons — Ravi Chaudhary, a former village head, Ram Surat, and Babu Mishra — were detained and quizzed. The trio was friends with Rakesh and Pintu.
Citing preliminary observations, Balrampur SP Dev Ranjan Verma said the five friends – two deceased and the three detained after the incident – had an altercation at a liquor shop with some people. “We are trying to track those people to probe the case further.”
