Journalist killed after mediating in Fatehpur nursing home dispute

Dilip Saini, a 38-year-old news agency reporter, was killed in Fatehpur district while trying to mediate in a dispute involving nursing home operator Prakash Singh. On Saturday, senior police officials said that on the intervening night of October 30-31, a group led by two criminal brothers attacked Saini and his friend Shahid with sharp weapons and firearms after they forcibly entered the residence.

On the night of October 30-31, a group led by two criminal brothers attacked Saini and his friend Shahid (for representative purposes only)

According to reports, the incident highlighted police negligence as officers had earlier visited the nursing home when Ankit Tiwari, one of the accused, was disturbing the peace and demanding extortion. Just hours after Saini intervened to help Singh and call the police, he was attacked and killed.

Further aggravating the situation, the main accused brothers, Annu Tiwari and Alok Tiwari (alias Akku), continued to threaten the nursing home operator. Despite numerous complaints, police allegedly ignored his requests for protection.

Fatehpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Dhawal Jaiswal said that five of the nine named suspects have been arrested while the remaining four, including the Tiwari brothers, are still at large. Those arrested were identified as Ankit Tiwari, Ashish Kumar, Jitendra Patel (alias Bablu), Vipin Sharma and Lekhpal Sunil Rana. The police plan to apply gangster law against the attackers due to their organized activities.

The attack took place on Wednesday evening around 11:48 p.m. when Saini and Shahid were having dinner at Saini’s residence under the jurisdiction of the Kotwali city police. Attackers armed with sharp weapons, batons and firearms broke in and attacked them. Shahid was seriously injured and is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

Saini’s wife Manorama has lodged an FIR under Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) against nine named suspects and six unidentified persons.

Prakash Singh recalled that Saini supported him by calling the police when Ankit Tiwari and his associates started destroying his nursing home. Soon after the police arrived, Tiwari and his group left, only to take revenge by attacking Saini a few hours later.

Singh also revealed that he had received death threats from Alok Tiwari, but maintained that the local police put pressure on him rather than allay his fears.