VIDISHA: A middle-aged RTI activist was shot dead by unidentified assassins in the Public Works Department (PWD) office premises in Vidisha town of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.
The RTI activist, identified as Ranjeet Soni, aged around 40 years, was shot in the head by the assassins from close range while he was standing in the office premises at around 4 pm.
The incident happened in Vidisha town, which is just 60 km away from Bhopal. While confirming the incident, the Vidisha district additional police superintendent Sameer Yadav said, “The assassins shot the RTI activist in the head from behind while he was standing in the PWD office premises. Screen-grabs of CCTVs installed in the PWD office and nearby spots are being scanned to track and nab the accused.”
The police officer added that a bag found on the motorcycle of the RTI activist contained some documents which could be related to RTI queries. Multiple police teams have been formed to crack the case at the earliest.
As per sources privy to the ongoing investigations, Soni’s bag contained documents pertaining to the works of various government departments, including the PWD. A native of Ashok Nagar district of the Gwalior-Chambal region, Soni was living in a rented accommodation in Vidisha’s Mukharji Nagar area for the last few years.
He was earlier a construction contractor listed with the local PWD office, but for the last few years, he has turned into an RTI activist, filing queries into construction works of various departments.
Soni had recently started a weekly Hindi newspaper from Vidisha.
He is survived by his wife and two children who live in Ashok Nagar district. The killing in broad daylight has exposed the lapses in the security sensitive area of Vidisha town, where the PWD office is located. The district court and old district collectorate premises are also located in the vicinity.
The residence of the district IAS and IPS officers, as well as offices of the SDM and Tehsildar are located within one km radius of the PWD office.
The investigators are also trying to figure out Soni’s possible enemies, as he was regularly filing RTI queries into construction-related works of different departments, particularly the PWD.