Suicide case: Scribe’s kin protest police inaction, block highway
Jalandhar, August 20
Family members of journalist Ravi Gill, who committed suicide here on Friday, staged a protest and blocked the National Highway near PAP here late this evening. They were protesting against the alleged police inaction in the case.
The protesters halted traffic on both sides of the highway by parking their vehicles in the middle of the road, leading to a significant traffic gridlock. Commuters were a harassed lot as they got stuck in a jam due to the protest.
Initial reports indicate that the family members of the deceased initially congregated at the Navi Baradari police station, voicing their concerns through a protest. Subsequently, they moved to the PAP, blocking the National Highway from both directions.
According to the kin, their protest was against the police. They contended that the police authorities had informed them in the afternoon that two suspects named in the suicide note had been apprehended. However, the information turned out to be false. After cremation, they came to know that no arrest had been made in this regard.
Ravi’s brother Rahul Gill said: “After getting information from the police about the arrest of the woman journalist and her brother, we proceeded with the cremation. After cremation, we saw a video in which the woman journalist went live on the social media claiming that she was being framed and she had not been arrested yet, following which we resorted to a protest”.
Notably, unverified reports circulating on the social media throughout the day suggested the arrest of woman journalist and her brother. Nevertheless, the police authorities remained silent on the matter. The family of the deceased held a similar protest at the Jyoti Chowk yesterday, obstructing the movement of traffic till late evening.
DCP Jagmohan Singh said the police possessed substantial leads and the suspects would be apprehended soon.
‘False information from cops’
According to the kin, their protest was against the police. They contended that the police authorities had informed them in the afternoon that two suspects named in the suicide note had been apprehended. However, the information turned out to be false. After cremation, they came to know that no arrest had been made in this regard.
