BENGALURU: A 43-year-old RTI activist, who was brutally attacked by a gang of miscreants in Tavarekere, off Magadi Road, last week succumbed to injuries on Sunday morning.
Venkatesh of Tavarekere is the second RTI activist to be murdered in the state in four days. A gang had hacked T Sridhar, 40, from Harapanahalli in Vijayanagara district, to death on July 15.
The two murders have shaken the community of RTI activists, prompting the Karnataka RTI Activists State Committee to demand a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the killings. Former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi and former Karnataka state information commissioner L Krishna Murthy, who were part of the committee, said vested interests are behind the murders as both the activists had information on several issues.
Leg, wrist cut off
Five miscreants, who came on two bikes, had chopped off Venkatesh’s right leg below his knee and right wrist on July 15. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where his severed limbs were reattached. But he did not respond to treatment and breathed his last on Sunday.
According to the committee, Venkatesh had been filing RTI applications seeking information on various government departments. He had also filed many corruption complaints and some projects were stopped because of his complaints.
Sridhar too had filed several RTI queries pertaining to different issues in the area. The committee said Sridhar's wife had named a former minister and son as suspects but the FIR named none of them. Sridhar was also receiving threat calls from the supporters of a former minister and MLA.
Home minister Basavaraj Bommai has called for a meeting of police officials to discuss the matter.
