No Caste Angle in The Murder of Brahmin Priest Shatrughan Dwivedi in Balrampur

News about the murder of a Radha Krishna temple priest in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh is going viral on social media. The murdered priest has been identified as Shatrughan Dwivedi. His body was found by the police in a forest. This news of the murder is being linked to a Brahmin angle, with claims that the priest was killed because of his caste. Questions are being raised against the Uttar Pradesh administration citing that Brahmins are being selectively targeted.

While sharing the news of the murder, Pankaj Dhavraiyya wrote, “In Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, another Brahmin priest, Shatrughan Dwivedi, was shot dead. The question is: How many Brahmins have received justice? How many victim families have been given firearm licenses? Every Brahmin is carrying the false burden of Hindutva while waiting for their own exploitation. When the Brahmin is finished, Hinduism will be finished.” (Archived link)

Janeyucide stated, “In Balrampur, the son of the Radha Krishna temple priest, Shatrughan Dwivedi, was brutally shot dead. According to the deceased’s brother, on Wednesday evening around 8 PM, some people called Shatrughan out of his house, after which he never returned. This morning, his body was found under suspicious circumstances near the fields.” (Archived link)

Neo Politics asserted, “Brahmin killings continue unabated: Radha-Krishna temple priest shot dead, SP demands answers from CM Yogi.” (Archived link)

Anuj Agnihotri claimed, “Another Brahmin priest shot dead. The body of Shatrughan Dwivedi was recovered from the forest of Balrampur in UP. This is not the first such incident in Uttar Pradesh, thousands of such incidents have happened. Brahmins are being selectively targeted in Uttar Pradesh.” (Archived link)

The claim was also shared by other handles like Mata Prasad Pandey (Archived link), Shivanshu Mishra (Archived link), Shubham Sharma (Archived link), and Deepika Sharma (Archived link).

Also Read: Viral Video of Explosion Claiming to Be from Leepa Valley Is False

Fact check

In our research, we searched for keywords related to the murder of Shatrughan Dwivedi in Balrampur, which led us to a report from Amar Ujala. In this report, we found that the case is related to an elopement, and the accused who killed Shatrughan are also Brahmins.

In the actual incident, Shatrughan’s cousin, Vivek Dwivedi, eloped with Sajan Tiwari’s sister from Baluha on April 21. This caused anger between Sajan and his brother Raghvendra Tiwari (alias Daddoo), and they planned to kill Vivek. They began searching for him, but when they could not find Vivek, they called Shatrughan on April 23, lured him to a secluded area, and shot him in the chest, killing him. When Shatrughan was searched for, his body was found the next day in a field.

In this murder, along with Sajan and Raghvendra, Mohit Verma (alias Kaka) was also involved. When the search for the accused was conducted, Raghvendra and Mohit were arrested near the canal embankment connecting Naharbalaganj and Tulsi Pur. The arrest was made by Inspector Sudhir Singh’s team. During the search, a 315-bore pistol which was used in the murder, live cartridges, two motorcycles, and two mobile phones were seized. Sajan Tiwari was not present at the scene of the arrest, so he was not apprehended. The police have announced a reward of ₹25,000 for his arrest.

In conclusion, there is no caste-related angle in the murder of Shatrughan Dwivedi, the Brahmin priest of the Radha Krishna temple in Balrampur. The accused in the priest’s murder, Sajan, Raghvendra, and Mohit, also belong to the Brahmin community. Shatrughan was murdered because his cousin, Vivek, had eloped with Sajan’s sister. This caused anger, and in their fury, Sajan and his brother Raghvendra ended up killing Shatrughan. Initially, they had planned to kill Vivek, but since they couldn’t locate him, Shatrughan became the target of their fury.

Claim	Brahmin priest Shatrughan Dwivedi killed in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh because of his caste.
Claimed by	Shubham Shukla, Anuj Agnihotri, and others
Fact Check	Shatrughan Dwivedi’s murder has no caste angle. The accused, all Brahmins, killed Shatrughan in anger after his cousin Vivek eloped with Sajan’s sister. They initially planned to kill Vivek but ended up killing Shatrughan instead.

Also Read: Viral Claim of Indian Army Fleeing Press Conference Over War with Pakistan Is False