On 30 December 2012, around 4pm, Mr. Srinivasa Rao, a right to information (RTI) activist was found lying unconscious near his office at the Court Centre in Markapuram Town of Pakasam District, in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. It was alleged that unknown three men walked into his office on the pretext of discussing a case. Two of them held him back while the third injected poison in the abdomen of Rao and fled. Immediately Rao was rushed by locals to the government hospital which referred him to the district headquarters hospital in Ongole. When his condition deteriorated, Rao was shifted to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences. Mr. Srinivasa Rao has been invoking the provisions of the Right to Information Act against local revenue and police officials in Markapur. He is into pawn broking in the town and gives loans taking insurance policies and bonds as security. Mr. Rao has been battling with police since he began seeking information from police stations under the RTI Act. He also contributes to RTI related programmes in a vernacular TV channel and was also the district convener for RTI Activists Association in the district. Rao had highlighted many irregularities in the use of government funds and earned the wrath of local officials and contractors in the district. Last week, he had complained to the district administration about a threat to his life from a local official whose corruption he was trying to expose. He had also claimed that despite his complaint, no action was taken against the official. The incident was said to have taken place before resumption of hearing in a case in the Markapur court on Monday against him filed under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.