A gut-wrenching video of Shahjahanpur journalist has emerged in which he, while lying on a hospital bed, said that the UP Minister and his goons could have beaten him instead of setting ablaze.
Journalist Jagendra Singh was set ablaze by UP Minister Ram Murti Verma and 5 others on June 1 for writing on Facebook against them. He succumbed to the burn injuries on June 8.
In the video he said, "Why did they have to burn me? If the minister and his goons had a grudge, they could have beaten me instead of pouring kerosene and burning me."
"Police team, led by inspector Sri Prakash Rai, barged into the house and started assaulting me. They could have arrested me," the journalist said further in the video.
Senior police officer Amitabh Thakur said, according to Jagendra, he was first attacked by the minister's men on April 28.
Jagendra had written a Facebook post over minister's involvement in illicit activities like illegal mining. The allegations levelled by Jagendra are said to have irked the Minister.
