Court orders probe into Pune RTI activist’s killing

MUMBAI - The Bombay High Court on Thursday ordered the state government and police to probe Wednesday’s killing of Pune-based Right to Information (RTI) activist Satish Shetty who had exposed many land scams in Maharashtra.

Shetty, 38, had unearthed many scams using RTI enquiries in Pune and was fatally attacked by two unidentified assailants when he was out on a walk on Wednesday.

Police are now questioning those linked to the cases exposed by Shetty.

His family members said that Shetty used to uncover scams mostly related to land, illegal structures, and also used to advise people on using the RTI Act to get justice.

Shetty had earlier asked for police protection and the request was being processed, police said.

They also said that five teams were investigating the matter and four people had already been arrested for interrogation.

“We have handed over the investigation of the murder case to SDPO (Sub-Divisional Police Officer) of Lonavala town. There are five core teams and two sub teams. That means seven teams are working on the investigation. We have detained four people for interrogation. Interrogation is on and further investigation will be based in information revealed in interrogation,” said Pratap Digvikar, Superintendent of Police, Pune.

State Chief Minister Ashok Chavan also expressed concern over the matter and said the complete investigation will be done.

“Complete investigation will be done. Whosoever is found guilty will be arrested and legal action will be taken. It’s a very serious issue,” said Chavan. (ANI)