A Hindi news channel journalist in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia was assaulted and shot dead after a police officer he had called to save him from attackers in front of a panchayat chief’s house on Monday night left the spot within minutes of arriving.

There was haze over the reason behind the murder of Ratan Kumar Singh, 42, with one senior police suggesting a land dispute and the journalist’s family alleging retribution for Ratan’s “fearless journalism” that had highlighted “police atrocities” and had angered sections of cops and villagers.

Inspector Shashimauli Pandey, whom Ratan had called up and who was said to be merely 20 metres away when the journalist was shot dead, has been suspended.

Ratan is survived by his parents, wife and three children.

Vinod Singh, Ratan’s father, has named 10 persons in the FIR for assaulting and shooting dead the journalist. Vinod alleged that inspector Pandey was hand-in-glove with the killers.

Vinod said Ratan had gone to the house of the Phephna panchayat chief, Seema Singh, after receiving a call from a relative of the leader’s husband, Jhabar Singh. Sunil Singh, the person who had allegedly called, is among the six persons arrested.

An eyewitness said on the condition of anonymity: “The killers were present in the house. I saw Ratan standing at the door of the panchayat leader’s house and speaking to some people inside. Soon, they were seen dragging Ratan onto the road and shooting him dead.”

Vinod said some people of the village who were already at the panchayat chief’s house began “arguing with Ratan the moment he reached there”.

“Ratan immediately called up Shashimauli Pandey, the Phephna police station in-charge. Pandey reached the spot soon, but left within five minutes. When the police officer was barely 20 metres away, the killers started beating my son and then opened fire. Pandey must have heard the gunshots but he didn’t return,” Vinod alleged.

“I believe the police knew what was going to happen. The police didn’t like my son because of his fearless journalism. Ratan used to report frequently on police atrocities,” Vinod said.

Some other eyewitnesses, however, said Ratan had run into the panchayat chief’s house to save himself after being attacked by some men when he was walking towards his home. The eyewitnesses said the killers followed Ratan into the house, dragged him out, thrashed him and shot him dead.

Subhash Chandra Dubey, the Uttar Pradesh deputy inspector-general of police, said on Tuesday: “The government has suspended Pandey because of his behaviour during the incident. Further action will be taken against him after due inquiry. While six killers have been arrested, a hunt is on to nab the remaining four. We are going to charge the killers under sections of the National Security Act and the Goonda Act. Their properties will also be confiscated.”

On Monday night, Ballia superintendent of police Devendra Nath had said Ratan’s murder was the fallout of a land dispute.

“It was an old land-related dispute in the village. Somebody had kept stacks of straw and hay in Ratan’s field. We have arrested six villagers — Sunil Singh, Sushil Singh, Dinesh Singh, Arvind Singh, Vir Bahadur Singh and Vinay Singh — on the basis of the complaint by the victim’s father. The incident has nothing to do with Ratan’s profession,” Nath had said.

Vinod, however, refuted the claim of land dispute. “The police are trying to turn it into a case of land dispute. Police officers are saying my son had fought with some villagers over stacks of hay and straw that had allegedly been kept in our field. I want the police to show me the stacks in our field. They are lying simply because the police and a section of villagers did not like his journalism,” Vinod said.

The Yogi Adityanath government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for Ratan’s family.

The Ballia Working Journalists’ Union has demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore for Ratan’s family and a government job for his wife.