Killing of Jagendra Singh

Jagendra Singh was an Indian journalist from Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, who had worked in Hindi-language media for 15 years and ran a Facebook page called Shahjahanpur Samachar. He had published posts alleging that Uttar Pradesh Minister Rammurti Singh Verma was linked to corruption and illegal mining, though he did not provide specific evidence for these claims at the time.

On 4 May 2015, Verma and associates were alleged to have raped an Anganwadi female worker; she said local police were not registering a First Information Report against Verma, and Singh reported on the case. Verma characterized the allegations as a political conspiracy against him by rivals and by Singh. On 22 May 2015, Singh wrote that he was being harassed by policemen, criminals, and politicians, and stated he feared Verma might have him killed.

According to Singh's family, on the afternoon of 1 June 2015 a group of policemen and other men arrived in two cars and entered his house in Shahjahanpur. After an argument in which Singh was reminded he had been warned not to write against Verma, the group allegedly pinned him down, poured petrol on him, and set him on fire. He was first taken to a district hospital in Shahjahanpur and later transferred to King George's Medical University in Lucknow, where he died on 8 June 2015, a week after the attack.

The Superintendent of Police of Shahjahanpur, Babloo Kumar, initially said Singh was not a journalist and stated he had committed suicide, claiming police had gone to arrest him in connection with an ongoing investigation and that he set himself alight before they arrived; police said they extinguished the fire and took him to hospital. In a dying declaration, Singh held Verma responsible for the attack and said a prior attempt on his life had occurred on 28 April 2015. A video circulated online after his death showing him badly burned in his hospital bed, describing the attack.

Following his death, his son Raghvendra Singh filed a police case, resulting in an FIR against Verma, police inspector Prakash Rai of Kotwali police station, and four others, under Indian Penal Code sections covering murder, criminal conspiracy, intentional insult, and criminal intimidation. On 13 June 2015, five policemen suspected of involvement, including Rai, were suspended. On 24 June 2015, The Hindu reported that sources indicated a forensic report concluded the burns were self-inflicted.

In July 2016, police filed a final report stating that Singh had died by suicide. The report relied in part on family statements; Singh's son told the Times of India that the family had not been aware of the closure report and still wanted the circumstances of his father's death explained.

The case drew reactions from press freedom and rights organizations, including the Press Council of India, Amnesty International, and the Committee to Protect Journalists, and from Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party. Singh's family held a dharna demanding justice and reported receiving threats and offers of money to withdraw the case; Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav met the family and promised ex-gratia compensation. Singh was later included in "Green Blood," a Forbidden Stories list of reporters investigating environmental issues who were killed between 2009 and 2019.