Crime has always interested humans which is why crime thriller books and movies sell. The Raja Raghuvanshi murder case has turned sensational because of constant media attention and a 24×7 reportage for the past two weeks. From being labelled “crime prone hills” to a relative of the deceased mouthing out before the camera that “Meghalaya is inhabited by a murderous mob and the state should be kicked out of India,” everything defamatory has been meticulously recorded by television media channels. Thankfully for Meghalaya its pride as a state that had no hand in the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi was redeemed by the Meghalaya Police and its diligent and meticulous investigation by putting together digital footprints and solid evidence that led them to the killers. To have pieced up the entire murder mystery and to bust it in seven days required hard labour which the Special Investigation Team (SIT) should take credit for. Meghalaya Police were blamed for not giving the family members a blow by blow account of their work. But investigation demands a certain amount of confidentiality especially at the early stages when police have to also rely on conjectures until they hit upon hard evidence. This therefore entails a lot of hard, investigative work for which the Meghalaya Police need time and space to compete their job creditably.
But the manner in which the Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills under whose jurisdiction Sohra – the place where the crime was committed falls, has been grilled by the so-called national media it would appear as if he is under interrogation. He should have been left to deal with the case rather than to answer searching questions for the media. If the case is still under investigation can the police reveal everything including their modus operandi just to satisfy the hawkish media that wants to be the first to report every twist in the tale. It is exhausting for anyone to deal with such intrusive media. Perhaps it is high time the Meghalaya Police appoint a spokesperson who will deal with such aggressive media persons so that those involved in policing are not hampered in their work by having to constantly answer queries from now until the sensation dies down in a couple of weeks.
It is evident now that the electronic media is no longer pursuing the traditional media agenda of informing, educating and entertaining. Things have become so sensationalised that they are spiking the human adrenaline and as a result people want more and more sensation and drama. Now that the alleged murderers have been brought in for questioning the Meghalaya Police should be given their time and space to carry out their duties with due diligence so that they build up a water-tight case against the killers of Raja Raghuvanshi and deliver due justice to his family members even as the perpetrators of this cruelly executed crime are given their due punishment. A cacophonous media can become a stumbling block to the justice delivery system. Above all, media speculation on this murder case does more harm than good. Meghalaya Police needs a respite from media hounds.