District General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Krishna Yadav (28), was shot dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district on Sunday afternoon.
It is believed that Krishna was shot dead from close range in his residence in the Gausganj Mohalla area of Sikandra Rao town; a country-made pistol and empty cartridge has been recovered by police from the house. The blood-soaked youth was moved to Aligarh for treatment by family members but passed away soon after.
Hathras Police has put out a statement on the murder.
Voting for the seven-phase UP assembly elections is currently ongoing. Hathras went to polls on the same day that Krishna was shot dead, on 20 February in the third phase.
While it is not known at this point of Krishna’s murder is related to the ongoing polls, it must be noted that during the election campaign, several Samajwadi Party candidates had threatened to exact revenge. Samajwadi Party candidate from Meerut (south) Adil Chaudhary was heard issuing a threat, “Our government is coming to power…Inshallah, we will take revenge from them (Hindus) for the atrocities (sic) meted out to us.”