Murder of Shetty a setback to RTI movement: Activists

The killing of graft whistle-blower Satish Shetty, who fearlessly used the Right to Information Act to expose several scams, is a serious blow to RTI movement in Maharashtra, social workers and the state information commissioner have said.

The killing of graft whistle-blower Satish Shetty, who fearlessly used the Right to Information Act to expose several scams, is a serious blow to RTI movement in Maharashtra, social workers and the state information commissioner have said.

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A sense of despair has taken over social activists after 38-year-old Shetty was hacked to death by two assailants at the tiny village of Talegaon, 45 km from here, on Wednesday.

"This is a serious development as the assailants who stabbed Satish have also killed democracy," anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, with whom the slain activist had worked for seven years, told PTI from Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahmednagar.

Supporting the Shetty family's demand for a CBI probe into the murder that has rocked Maharashtra, he also alleged that such a crime could not have been committed without clandestine backing of some elements in the establishment.

"This audacity to commit such a heinous crime against a person who was selflessly working for social justice by highlighting corruption, in my opinion, cannot be mustered unless the perpetrators enjoy the blessings of those who are in power," Hazare, one of the pioneers of the RTI movement in the state, remarked.