Accused in RTI activist's murder, BJP MP surrenders

Gujarat BJP MP Dinubhai Boghabhai Solanki surrendered on Monday at a special CBI jail here on the Supreme Courts order after he was accused by the father of slain RTI activist Amit Jethwa of involvement in his son's murder.

Solanki had been ordered by the apex court to surrender immediately to the authorities in the case filed by Bhikhubhai Jethwa in the Gujarat High Court alleging Solanki was behind the murder of his son Amit Jethwa, an environmenta and RTI activist.

Dinu Solanki had been evading arrest for a while after the apex court order, but on Monday he surrendered.

On October 30, the Supreme Court had ordered cancellation of Solanki's bail application, until the examination of eight key witnesses had taken place. Out of the total 195 witnesses in the case, 105 had turned hostile.

Amit Jethwa, an RTI activist, was shot dead on July 20, 2010 right in front of the Ahmedabad High Court.

Despite the government's prohibitive orders, illegal mining in the Gir region of the Gir-Somnath district was rampant. Jethwa had been seeking information on those under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. In the process, Amit came to confront Solanki, a BJP leader and former MLA from the Kodinar assembly seat, and later MP from the Junagadh Lok Sabha constituency. Solanki had allegedly been involved illegal mining of limestone in the area.

Frustrated by the lackadaisical approach by the police in investigating his son's murder, Bhikhubhai Jethwa had approached the Gujarat High Court in 2010 asking the case to be transferred to the CBI. The court observed that the investigation has been perfunctory and biased only to protect Solanki and transferred the case to the CBI in October 2012.

The CBI completed its investigation and arrested Solanki on November 5, 2013. On February 24, 2014 the Supreme Court rejected a special leave petition by Solanki but granted him interim bail.

--IANS

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