Jindal Steel security guard plotted to shoot RTI activist says police
31 Jul, 2012
At a crowded Press conference in Raigarh, the police have claimed that a security guard working with private steel major Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) had hired contract killers to shoot Mr. Ramesh Agrawal, a noted RTI activist who has a history of exposing industrial houses for flouting the rules. The police investigation has revealed that Mr. Tarkeshwar Rai, a security guard working with JSPL through a security agency, had a key role in the daring attack on the 56 year old Ramesh Agrawal. Mr. Agrawal was shot at twice in his office on July 7, 2012 and is currently in the ICU of a private hospital of Raipur.
Rai had allegedly given money to G Vyankatesh, who hired a few goons. The police have arrested Sunil Behra, Sanjay Das and Naresh Patro who are history-sheeters in the neighbouring state of Odisha while one of the key accused, G Vyankatesh, is still at large.
The motive and mastermind behind the attack behind the attack are likely to be revealed by the police soon. In April 2012, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had cancelled environmental clearance granted for a 4-million tonne per annum coal mint to JSPL on the basis of documental evidence submitted by Agrawal who had claimed before the tribunal that the mandatory public hearing held to clear the project did not follow accepted procedure.