Sitapur (UP), Mar 10 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai on Sunday met the family of a journalist who was shot dead here and demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators.

Rai also demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the journalist's family and a government job for his wife.

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On Saturday afternoon, Raghvendra Bajpai (35), a regional reporter for a Hindi daily, was shot dead by bike-borne assailants on the Sitapur-Delhi National Highway, police had said.

Rai alleged that Bajpai was murdered for exposing irregularities in paddy procurement.

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The UP Congress chief demanded the immediate arrest of the perpetrators, a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the family, and a government job for the victim's wife.

"The brave journalist had exposed corruption, hence he was murdered," Rai told the media after meeting with the family.

"If the murderers are not caught within two days, Congress will protest in the entire state as law and order has completely collapsed under the BJP government. Congress stands with the victim's family," he said.

Earlier, the family and local residents blocked the national highway with Bajpai's body, leading to a confrontation with police.

BJP MLA from Maholi, Shashank Trivedi, intervened, assuring the family of full support from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and promising swift action.

The cremation took place following the MLA's intervention.

The police said they have arrested eight people in connection with the murder and are conducting interrogations.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)