A television reporter was among nine people killed on Sunday in Lakhimpur Kheri but the death had not been confirmed by police till Monday evening.

Conflicting versions emerged on the cause of the death of Raman Kashyap, who was reporting for Sadhna Prime News.

The channel’s editor said some hooligans had beaten the reporter. Accounts on social media quoted Kashyap’s father and brother as saying he was shot at and hit by a car.

Kashyap died of his injuries in hospital, said Siddharth Kalhans, national secretary of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists.

Brij Mohan Singh, editor of Sadhna Prime News, told The Telegraph: “He (Kashyap) had suffered several injuries. Other reporters who were there told us that he was beaten up by some of the bystanders. They were not farmers; farmers do not kill. There were some hooligans from outside in that crowd and they beat him up when they saw him making a video.

“He was our tehsil reporter/ stringer (non-permanent correspondent) and we were planning to make him the district correspondent later this year.”

In its daily statement, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha mentioned the death of an independent journalist but did not name the person.