RTI activist or an extortionist? Nagpur police to find out
5 Nov, 2013The city police of Nagpur have registered a complaint of extortion against a Right to Information (RTI) activist for allegedly demanding Rs. 30 lakh from Shailen Shashkant Mehta, an advertising agency owner.
As per the complaint filed with the police, an advocate Shrikant Khandalkar and RTI activist Sanjay Agarwal had joined hands and demanded money from Shailen Shashkant Mehta. Mehta had won the contract for beautification and setting up of food shops on the banks of Futala lake of Nagpur. The duo obtained some information using the RTI Act and then approached Mehta. They blaming him of violation of development rules and demanded an amount of Rs 30 lakhs from him. They threatened to file public interest litigation (PIL) in case he failed to pay the amount of Rs. 30 lakh as demanded from him. Mehta trapped them by recording the conversation on Dictaphone. Using it as evidence, he lodged a complaint with Sitaburdi Police Station. The police have registered an offence under section 385 of IPC (extortion) though no arrests have been made.