On 1 February 2020, anti-corruption activist Ranjan Kumar Das was found dead in Beruan village, India. Sources informed that Mr. Ranjan Kumar Daswas regularly receiving death threats for seeking information including on the numerous brick kilns that had sprung up illegally. Mr. Ranjan Kumar Das was a Right to Information (RTI) activist based in Odisha, India. He was the Kendrapara district unit convener of Odisha Jana Suchana Adhikar Abhijan (OSAA) which is a state level platform of HRDs. Hewas associated with OSAA since 2012. He was known for filing multiple RTI applications in connection with several irregularities in Kendrapara district. RTI inquiry filed by Ranjan Kumar Das in 2018 had exposed alleged violation of law by Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) in building a tourist resort in Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park’s core area where no such construction is allowed. In 2019 the he had exposed alleged misappropriation of funds allotted under Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) to an NGO of the district in connivance with officials of Bhitarkanika National Park by not planting mangrove trees in the forest. Recently, he had lodged a case alleging encroachment of 1,100 acres of government land by a resident of Mahakalpada for shrimp farming. He also exposed irregularities in a recent mini-stadium project which was to be built by using manual labour under the NREGA scheme but instead of following those guidelines the contractor used JCB machines to do that work. Mr. Ranjan documented the irregularitiesand exposed the corrupt practices due to which the payments of the contractors were withheld. Mr. Ranjan used to file petitions before the Vigilance department and Lokayukta urging them to conduct inquiry into matters of corruption in the district. RTI activists in Odisha suspect that Mr. Ranjan might have been killed as he had raised his voice against illegal sand quarries, brick kiln owners, a few NGOs and officials in the district and its nearby areas by obtaining information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.