The CBI on Tuesday arrested BJP MP from Junagadh Dinu Bogha Solanki in connection with the alleged murder of RTI activist Amit Jethwa who had filed a plea before the Gujarat High Court against illegal mining in Gir forests.
Solanki was grilled since morning and taken into custody in the evening. He will be produced in a designated court on Wednesday.
CBI had registered a case on the directions of the Gujarat High Court which in its order had criticised the State police for their shoddy investigations in the murder. The Gujarat police had given a clean chit to Solanki.
Jethwa was a Right to Information (RTI) and environment activist who had filed numerous RTI applications and a PIl against illegal mining in Gir forest region in Junagadh district which is a protected area and last home to Asiatic lions. He was shot dead outside the Gujarat High Court on July 20, 2010.
A case was registered against unnamed persons under Section 302 (murder) of IPC and Gujarat Police arrested six persons, including Shiva Solanki, nephew of the BJP MP, and sharp shooter Sailesh Pandya who had shot at Jethwa.
The crime branch of the State police had ruled out any involvement of Dinu Bogha Solanki in the murder.
The murder had led to an uproar as RTI activists raised concerns over the security of whistleblowers. The father of the deceased moved the High Court demanding a CBI probe.
In his plea before the High Court, Bhikabhai has alleged the State police had not properly probed the case and the State Government was shielding the BJP MP.
The court had said the probe was “far from fair, independent, bona fide or prompt”.
“It has come on record that Shiva Solanki and DB (Dinu Bogha Solanki) were living together in a joint family and no investigator could have been easily satisfied with the statements that they did not interact in respect of the conspiracy to commit a capital crime,” the court had said.