The city police on Monday arrested a former Congress corporator and his son in connection with the sensational murder of an RTI activist at Kalina in north Mumbai on Saturday.
Bhupendra Vira (61), the RTI activist, was watching television at his Razaak Chawl residence at Kalina in north Mumbai on Saturday, when he was shot by unidentified assailants using a revolver with a silencer. The victim’s wife Khushboo who was at home, did not hear the gun shots.
Identifying the two arrested persons as Razzak Khan (78), a former Congress corporator, and his son Amjad Khan (53), the police said that the family members of the deceased had a strong reason to believe that the father-son duo had eliminated Vira.
Apart from being an RTI activist, Vira was a utensils dealer. As an RTI activist, he had been crusading against land mafia, unauthorized structures and encroachments in and around Kalina. He had also written several letters to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on the unauthorized constructions.
“Vira had been crusading against the land mafia at Kalina. His untiring efforts had resulted in the BMC ordering demolition of four illegal structures, apparently belonging to the mafia,” Satish Jain of Aam Admi Party said.
“This same mafia led by an ex-Congress corporator had stabbed Vira's son four years back when be bravely decided to take the mafia head on,” Jain alleged. Meanwhile, veteran activist Shailesh Gandhi demanded an inquiry into the incident. “This is despicable and I request the commission to treat this as a complaint under Section 18. This continued violence against RTI,” veteran activist Shailesh Gandhi said in a letter to Maharashtra’s Chief Information Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, demanding an inquiry into the incident.