New Delhi, Jul 22 (IANS): Following the death of a Ghaziabad based journalist after being shot on Monday night for protesting against the harassment of his niece, the Congress has hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked "So who is answerable for it today, where does the buck stop?"

Shrinate said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is conspicuously silent on the consistently rising crime graph. Should one be surprised that increasingly those being accused of criminal acts are either from the BJP or associated with some of its top leaders or enjoy their political patronage, she asked.

"I have been a journalist and so I feel very strongly about what is happening to my fellow journalists in UP. Every agency, brute police force, false cases are being used to silence the critics of this government, to clampdown on honest journalism," said Shrinate.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi too have targeted the UP government and termed it as "Jungle Raj".

Journalist Vikram Joshi, who was shot at by armed assailants near his residence in Vijay Nagar, Ghaziabad on June 20, passed away on Wednesday.

The scribe was attacked when he was returning from his sister's house along with his two daughters on a motorbike on Monday night. He had suffered a bullet injury on his head after the assailants opened fire at him.

The Chief Minister has announced a job for the victim's wife and cash compensation.Nine people have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Meanwhile, police officer Raghvendra has been suspended for not taking swift action and ignoring the complaint filed by the family of the victim.