On the afternoon of 13 February 2016, Karun Misra was driving to Ambedkar Nagar with his cousin Abhishek when they were attacked by three men on motorbikes. They fired at him several times with a 9mm pistol before making their escape. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries on the way.

Misra, 28, was a journalist who had previously worked for a Hindi weekly paper ‘Hamlawar’ and lived in Tarauli village. 15 days before the killing he had joined the Jan Sandesh Times as a bureau chief. In this capacity he published several reports about illegal mining activities around the Gomati river area. According to the Uttar Pradesh police two contractors involved in the illegal mining, Mr. Rahul Singh and Mr. Pawan Singh had hired a group of criminals to kill Misra.

The contractors along with three members of the criminal gang were arrested however two remain at large. A police officer was also suspended for failing to address the illegal mining operation. 11 journalists have been killed for their work in India, according to an October 2016 report from the Committee to Protect Journalists. There have been no convictions in any of the cases and nearly all of the victims covered corruption or politics.