RTI activist abducted, killed in MP

A 35-year-old RTI activist was allegedly abducted and killed by some unidentified persons here in Madhya Pradesh, police said today.

Mukesh Dubey was abducted late last night from his Vikram Nagar Colony residence and his body was found in the forest of Matkora village under Sumawali Police Station area this morning, Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) RKS Rathore said.

"The injury marks on his body suggested that he was beaten to death," he said.

Dubey, a resident of Sumawali located around 18 kms from the district headquarters, had a house in Vikram Nagar Colony in Morena too, Rathore said.
 

"During the preliminary investigation, his neighbours in Vikram Nagar said he was taken away by some people, who had come to his house in a jeep late last night," the police officer said.

He said Dubey had filed some RTI applications seeking information about Sumawali Panchayat.

"We recovered the documents from Dubey's residence. On the basis of these papers, we are trying to get a clue about the persons involved in his killing," he said.

Rathore added that Dubey was also facing some criminal cases.

According to the SDOP, police have registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC, including section 302 (murder), against the unidentified persons.

Mukesh's elder brother, Rajiv, said his sibling had complained about threat to his life to senior police officials, including the Superintendent of Police (SP) and the state Director General of Police (DGP).

"Last year, Mukesh had complained to the then SP, Vineet Khanna, about the threat to his life. Mukesh had also furnished the recording of his phone conversation with the then Sumawali police station in-charge, who was threatening him on behalf of some people that were troubled due to his RTI applications," Rajiv said.

However, these complaints were not taken seriously, he alleged.

Meanwhile in Bhopal, Ajay Dubey, convener of (NGO) 'Suchna Ka Adhikar Andolan' demanded a CBI inquiry into the killing.

"I have written a letter to the state Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and demanded a CBI inquiry into the killing of Mukesh Dubey," he said.

"The RTI activists in the state should be given protection under the Whistle Blowers Protection Act. Mukesh had filed several applications to expose the corruption prevailing in Panchayati Raj organisations. The criminal cases against him were registered at the behest of those, who faced trouble due to his RTI applications," he added.

According to him, the CIC has forwarded his letter to the state chief secretary.