RTI activist murdered

RTI activist linked with the recent Lokayukta raid on a councillor was hacked to death as his horror-struck wife watched the murder from their first floor home in Vittalnagar in Chamarajpet here in the early hours of Tuesday.

Lingaraju (45) had come down around 6 a.m. as usual to fetch water from a nearby public tap when three armed men — all in their early 20s and their faces masked with woollen balaclavas — pounced on him, hacked him to death and disappeared in the bylanes. Chamarajpet police said that Lingaraju ran the now defunct Kannada tabloid, “Mahaprachanda”. He became a Right to Information (RTI) activist after it folded up. Raid and calls

It is said that he started getting threatening calls after the Lokayukta raided the residence and other premises of a Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) councillor earlier this month.

He apparently bragged about how he had tipped off the sleuths about the councillor’s riches, even claiming that he had got a certificate of appreciation from the Lokayukta top brass. This proved costly, an investigation officer said and added that his wife suspected the hand of the councilor in the murder.

Five police teams have been formed to arrest the assailants. Karnataka High Court on Wednesday treated press reports about the brutal hacking to death of an RTI activist in Bangalore as a suo motu PIL and ordered issue of notice to the city and State police.

A Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen appointed senior counsel Hazmath Pasha as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter.

Lingaraju (40), an RTI activist and a whistle-blower, was hacked to death at Vittal Nagar in Chamarajpet by three unidentified persons in front of his house last night.

The activist was rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared him dead.

A former employee of Canara Bank, he had launched a Kannada tabloid “Maha Prachanda” but closed it some years ago to become a full-time RTI activist. He also dabbled in real estate and was associated with the Congress Party.

Recently, Mr. Lingaraju had filed a private complaint in the Lokayukta Court against his political rival Govindraju, husband of Azadnagar corporator Gowramma. He had also lodged a complaint with the Upalokayukta against the couple.

On November 9, Lokayukta police had raided Gowramma and Govindraju’s residence and recovered documents relating to property besides assets worth over Rs 16 crore.

Mr. Lingaraju is also reported to have provided crucial documents, during preliminary investigation of the cases involving Gowramma and Govindraju, which subsequently led to the raids, police said.

According to Mr. Lingaraju’s wife, Gowramma had recently approached her through some people to get the complaint withdrawn.

The family has now filed a complaint, alleging that Gowramma and her associates were behind Mr. Lingaraju’s murder, police said.

It seems the government is more interested in protecting the corrupt than in protecting the whistle-blowers.

But then what can you expect of a government and an opposition which is equally steeped and reeking in corruption.

It is now obvious that only Anna and Arvind Kejriwal can save India.

The BJP is just aiming to protect Nitin Gadkari so how can you expect it will fight corruption.