15 journalists were brutally murdered in Uttar Pradesh from 2017 to 2025! Campaign against land mafia intensified from paddy procurement in the murder of journalist Raghavendra Vajpayee

Maholi town is about 22 km from the district headquarters of Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. Journalist Raghavendra Vajpayee, who lived in Vikasnagar locality here, was murdered on March 8. His family includes mother, wife and two children. His wife Rashmi Vajpayee and the entire family is in shock. His wife says she had to pay the price of honesty. Protests were also held in several tehsils of Sitapur against the killing of the journalist. Protests were held in several parts of the state. According to the Committee Against Assault on Journalists, 12 journalists have been killed in Uttar Pradesh between 2017 and 2022. As many as 138 journalists were also attacked during the period. Last year in October 2024, a journalist Dilip Saini was also killed in Fatehpur. In 2020 alone, a total of seven journalists - Rakesh Singh, Suraj Pandey, Uday Paswan, Ratan Singh, Vikram Joshi, Faraz Aslam and Shubham Mani Tripathi - were killed in the state. On behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government, IG Prashant Kumar is monitoring the investigation into the latest incident. The STF is investigating the case.