NEW DELHI, Jan 5, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - India's media watchdog has demanded a 
thorough investigation after a journalist's battered body was found stuffed 
in a septic tank covered with concrete.

Freelance journalist Mukesh Chandrakar, 28, had reported widely on corruption 
and a decades-old Maoist insurgency in India's central Chhattisgarh state, 
and ran a popular YouTube channel "Bastar Junction".

The Press Council of India expressed "concern" over the suspected murder of 
Chandrakar, calling for a report on the "facts of the case" in a statement 
late Saturday.

Chandrakar's body was found on January 3 after police tracked his mobile 
phone records following his family reporting him missing.

Three people have been arrested.

More than 10,000 people have died in the decades-long insurgency waged by 
Naxalite rebels, who say they are fighting for the rights of marginalised 
indigenous people in India's resource-rich central regions.

Vishnu Deo Sai, chief minister of Chhattisgarh from the ruling Bharatiya 
Janata Party (BJP), called Chandrakar's death "heartbreaking" and promised 
the "harshest punishment" for those found responsible.

India was ranked 159 last year on the World Press Freedom Index, run by 
Reporters Without Borders.