The journalist who worked for Agniban, a local evening newspaper, was on his way to Manglia Square in his car when he was stopped in Indore, Madhya Pradesh state, by two assailants on motorbikes. They asked him to wind down his window, then slit his throat and fled the scene. A passer-by saw Sharma bleeding heavily and rushed him to hospital. He was moved to another hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.