Over a month after journalist Raghvendra Bajpai’s murder in Sitapur, police have told the media that he was killed by contract killers hired by the aide of a temple priest. Bajpai had threatened to expose the aide for sexually assaulting a minor on the temple’s premises, police said.
At a press conference on Thursday, Sitapur SP Chakresh Mishra said the aide had paid Rs 4 lakh to two middlemen for the contract killing. The police have arrested three accused so far, including the two middlemen, while the shooters are absconding.
#SitapurPolice पत्रकार राघवेंद्र वाजपेयी की हत्या की घटना के अनावरण एवम् 03 अभियुक्तों की गिरफ्तारी के संबंध में पुलिस अधीक्षक सीतापुर श्री चक्रेश मिश्र द्वारा दी गयी बाइट-#sitapur #सीतापुर pic.twitter.com/RDvZhSasDH
— Sitapur Police (@sitapurpolice) April 10, 2025
Bajpai was shot dead in broad daylight on Hempur railway overbridge in Imalia Sultanpur police station area on the Lucknow-Delhi National Highway on March 8. He worked as a correspondent for the daily newspaper Dainik Jagran.
Several global press associations and organisations had condemned the murder, including the UNESCO director-general, the Committee to Protect Journalists and International Federation of Journalists.
Police had formed several teams to investigate the case.
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