Ghaziabad: Tenth accused in journalist Vikram Joshi murder case arrested

GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad police on Wednesday arrested the last accused in journalist Vikram Joshi murder case.
“Akash Bihari, one of the accused in journalist Vikram Joshi murder case, has been arrested from Ghaziabad’s Jassipura area at 3.25am on Wednesday morning,” SP (City) Manish Kumar Mishra said.
“Bihari was at large since the day of murder while rest of nine accused in this sensational murder case were arrested.We had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for information on whereabouts and a local court had also issued a non-bailable warrant against him,” added Mishra.
Akash Bihari reportedly told the police after his arrest that he was a part of the conspiracy in the murder of journalist Vikram Joshi on 20 July. Though, he was not present at the scene of crime. “His claim that he was not present at the scene of crime will be ascertained even though the CCTV footage showed only four accused in which Bihari was not seen,” said Mishra.
Journalist Vikram Joshi was shot in the head before being assaulted while he was returning to his home on his bike with his two daughters in Vijay Nagar area on 20 July. CCTV footage showed the accused assaulting him and dragging him before shooting him in the head even as his daughter cried for help. He was rushed to a hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries two days later.
Police had earlier arrested Shahnoor Mansuri alias Chotu, Akash Nath, Ravi, Shakir, Mohit, Dalveer, Abhishek Saroj, Abhishek Janwal alias Balmiki and Jogendra.
Journalist Vikram Joshi had filed a complaint with Vijay Nagar police on July 16 against the accused over harassment of his niece but the police failed to act. Four days later, the accused intercepted Joshi in Vijay Nagar area and shot him.
The murder triggered nationwide furore as the CCTV footage of the murder went viral. The UP government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the slain journalist and the cheque was handed over to them by Ghaziabad MP VK Singh.