A Right To Information (RTI) activist and his associate were shot dead by four unidentified men on Sunday night in Jamui district, Bihar, reports said. It is reportedly the third such incident in the state in the last three months.

A Right To Information (RTI) activist and his associate were shot dead by four unidentified men on Sunday night in Jamui district, Bihar, reports said. It is reportedly the third such incident in the state in the last three months.

RTI activist Valmiki Yadav (40) and associate Dhramendra Yadav (34) were shot near their village Bichwe around 7 pm, The Times of India quoted Jamui SDPO Rampukar Singh as saying. Officials said that the accused first attacked the victims with rods and sticks before shooting them.

An investigation has been launched into the incident.

Yadav is said to have exposed several rackets and financial irregularities in the public welfare schemes and developmental works in the district.

This is the third such incident of violent crime against RTI activists in the state in the past three months. On 20 June, 65-year-old RTI activist, Rajendra Singh, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in East Champaran district. A resident of Rajpur village, Singh was returning from Kutchery in Motihari at night when unidentified persons sprayed bullets on him.

He died on the way to the hospital.

Singh had exposed several discrepancies in the Indira Awas Yojana, teachers' appointment and Life Insurance Corporation.

In April, two unidentified gunmen shot dead RTI activist Jayant Kumar in Bihar's Vaishali district. The assailants fled the scene on a bike immediately after the incident.

With inputs from agencies