MNV Shankar died in the early hours of Nov. 26, 2014, from head injuries incurred after he was attacked by unidentified assailants with iron rods as he returned home from work late on the night of Nov. 25. Shankar was a senior reporter for Telugu daily newspaper Andhra Prabha. The Indian Journalists Union (IJU), the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) and the Andhra Pradesh Newspaper Employees Federation (APNEF) condemned the killing, citing Shankar’s coverage of the distribution of rationed items like kerosene oil through black market channels by local mafia as the suspected motive for the killing.