A 45-year-old journalist was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli district on Saturday night, making it the third incident of a journalist being killed in the state in the last four months, reported PTI.

Hemant Yadav, the victim who worked with a local news channel, sustained two bullet injuries to the chest and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared him "dead on arrival".

The police has said that Yadav's body has been sent for post-mortem, and an FIR  has been filed against unidentified persons. Three special police teams have been set up for speedy investigation into the case, the police said adding that they have also received some inputs.

The Indian Express reported that Yadav, who hails from Ekona village under the Dhanapur police station, is survived by his wife and two children. The report states that according to the police Yadav was returning home on his bike from the Kamalpur market on Saturday evening when two motorcycle-borne men confronted him. The men had minor arguments with Yadav following which they shot at him and escaped.

Jounalist Jagendra Singh was doused with kerosene and allegedly set on fire at his house in Shahjahanpur. He died from burn injuries on June 8. In August, Sanjay Pathak, a part-time reporter for a local Hindi daily in Bareilly district, was killed allegedly by two persons. Besides these, several other incidents of alleged attacks on journalists have in reported in the state over the last several months, adds PTI.