Journalist's death: Guj cops probe suicide, murder angles

Police are probing all angles, including suicide and murder, in the death of television news channel journalist Chirag Patel, senior officials said Tuesday.

The charred body of Patel, a copy editor with a Gujarati news channel, was found Saturday near a canal in Nikol area here.

"There are no external injury marks or any sign of physical struggle as per the post mortem report. Even CCTV footage of the area where his body was found shows Patel alone. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of suicide. However, we are probing all angles," said Additional Commissioner of Police M S Bharada.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Akshayraj Makwana stressed there was "70 to 80 per cent" possibility that Patel committed suicide, though he added that the police was not ruling out murder either.

"Nothing suspicious has been found in our probe. Six Indian Police Service officers, including me, are leading probe teams in the case," Makwana said.

Gujarat BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya told reporters that Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had asked police to conduct a thorough probe.

Patel's death has upset the media community in the state greatly and several of them have taken to social media platforms to pressure the government machinery into finding its cause.