Policeman charged over Delhi murder

Policeman charged over Delhi murder

Mahajan: Denies affair with murdered journalist

A court in the Indian capital, Delhi, has charged a former police officer in connection with the murder of a journalist four years ago.

Ravi Kant Sharma is accused of conspiring to murder Shivani Bhatnagar, who worked for the Indian Express newspaper.

Five others have also been charged in the case. All the accused have pleaded not guilty.

The journalist was found strangled in her home in Delhi in January 1999.

The trial is due to begin on 20 March.

Mr Sharma, a senior officer in Haryana state, turned himself in to the authorities last September, two months after being named as the prime suspect in Ms Bhatnagar's murder.

'Affair'

The case had taken on a political dimension the previous month when Mr Sharma's wife alleged that a government minister had been having an affair with the journalist.

She said police had recorded conversations between the minister and the victim, and that he had spoken to Ms Bhatnagar on the day of her murder.

The minister, Pramod Mahajan, rejected what he called absurd accusations, and said he was shocked by news of the murder.

He acknowledged that he had known the victim, but only in a professional capacity.

Mr Mahajan has since taken up a senior post in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of key state elections this year, and general elections in 2004.