Click to play videoMumbai: Close on the heals of RTI activists Satish Shetty and Datta Patil being brutally murdered in Maharashtra, another RTI activist Anwar Shaikh has approached the Bombay High Court, saying he has received death threats and has demanded protection.
The court has admitted his plea for hearing.
Shaikh said: "I got a threat saying forget about the cemetery otherwise you will be shot, I said do what you want so he said wait, you will get a call from 'bhai'. I cut the phone went to the police station and filed a complaint."
Shaikh exposed a land transfer in Vikhroli area of Mumbai where a large plot reserved for public use has been de-reserved suddenly by the state government and has been transferred to a private builder for commercial use.
Shaikh claims this was illegal. The residents in the area wanted this plot to be reserved for a cemetery and Shaikh has filed an FIR in the matter.
"The High Court has already given orders that if an RTI activist receives threats and files a complaint and demands protection, that must be provided," Shaikh said.
The builder, who is the beneficiary of the dereservation, and the police refused to comment on camera. However, Shaikh has now also filed a petition on the issue in High Court.
The issue of attacks on RTI activists was raised in Maharashtra assembly in the last session and the chief minister had assured action, however little implementation seems to have actually happened.
Many RTI activists who've been repeatedly attacked in Maharashtra are still awaiting justice. But even after the government's assurance, some of them continue to be threatened.
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