J'khand minister meets kin of 3 found dead, assures justice; reporters manhandled at hospital

Jharkhand Health Minister Irfan Ansari on Tuesday met the families of three persons whose bodies were recovered from a forest here and assured them of justice, officials said. Two reporters were later manhandled allegedly by members of the bereaved families over questions asked by them to the minister at a hospital where Ansari met the press. The bodies of Adil Hussain (25), Shania Perven (19) and Khushi Perven (21), all cousins and were suspeted to have been murdered, were recovered from Pouta forest under Hazaribag Mufassil police station limits on Monday. After meeting the bereaved families at Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital, the minister directed Hazaribag Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar to expedite the probe to ascertain the cause of death and arrest those responsible. The SP informed him that an FIR has been registered and an investigation is underway, stressing that the culprits would be identified and action taken. As the minister was leaving the hospital, some reporters questioned him about his absence during Ram Navami festivities, to which he termed the query irrelevant. Another journalist asked about the delay in compensation to families of victims of an air ambulance crash in Chatra in February. The minister said the government would provide compensation soon. Meanwhile, two of the reporters present at Ansari's programme were allegedly manhandled by members of the bereaved families over questions posed to the minister. Ansari left the hospital shortly after the incident. The Hazaribag Press Club termed the incident ''unfortunate'' and condemned the alleged assault on journalists. Press Club president Murari Singh said an attack on journalists during a ministerial visit was ''shameful'', while secretary Deepak Singh alleged the assault was premeditated and said one reporter was injured and admitted to the hospital. He warned of agitation if those involved were not arrested. In a social media post later, Ansari said the victims' families were in shock and reacted to ''irrelevant questions'', and alleged attempts by the BJP to link him to the incident. Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Babulal Marandi demanded an FIR against the minister, alleging the attack on reporters was orchestrated by his supporters.

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