THOOTHUKUDI: A Kovilpatti-based RTI activist has filed a police complaint against former councillor Rasapandian for allegedly issuing him threats and Kovilpatti municipality's Public Information Officer (PIO) for allegedly leaking his contact details and RTI queries to private parties.
The complainant, A Shenbagaraj (50), said he filed an RTI application to the municipality on December 23 seeking details of the conservancy workers assigned by Our Land Engineering Limited, a private contracting agency, for works at the municipality, invoices of the past four financial years, copies of attendance register, and the annual auditing reports since 2017. Shenbagaraj is also the founder and president of the Jaibeem Labour Welfare Association.
According to the police complaint, a few days after the RTI application was filed, Rasapandian threatened Shenbagaraj on behalf of the contracting agency. Meanwhile, an audio conversation between Rasapandian and Shenbagaraj has also gone viral on social media. In the phone call placed on January 2, the person alleged to be Rasapandian is heard issuing threats.
"It is not good to file RTI queries about contractors... I dare you to file a complaint. I am capable of facing it... The commissioner and chairman are not prompt at duties, they take bribes for everything," goes a rough translation of his remarks.
On Tuesday, Shenbagaraj and advocate Bhimroa lodged a complaint with Kovilpatti East police station regarding the incident.