Journalist shot dead in India

A journalist was shot dead by three gunmen in northern India yesterday, police said, the latest attack on media in one of Asia's deadliest countries for reporters.

Rajesh Mishra, a 40-year-old reporter at the Hindi-language daily Dainik Jagran -- one of India's largest newspapers -- was shot in the head by three gunmen on a motorcycle in Uttar Pradesh state, additional director general of police Anand Kumar said.

"Three thugs fired the shots. Two of the three have been identified. … We are confident that we will arrest all three by tonight," he said, adding police were yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing.

Mishra was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The killing comes a month after a reporter covering political unrest in India's northeast was beaten to death during violent clashes.

In September, gunmen in the IT hub of Bangalore shot dead prominent journalist Gauri Lankesh, a newspaper editor and outspoken critic of the BJP, as she entered her home.

No arrests have been made so far in that case.