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RTI activist shot at in Thane
Two men shot and critically injured Right to Information activist Arun Sawant at Badlapur, Thane, on Friday.
Two men shot and critically injured Right to Information activist Arun Sawant at Badlapur, Thane, on Friday.
Sawant had gone to the Badlapur Municipal Council (BMC) to file an RTI application. The shooting happened on his way back, at around 1.30 pm, on Katrap Road, which is 100 meters from the Council office.
Police Inspector A P Mokashi said Sawant was shot by two unidentified men who had been following him. Sawant took one bullet in the lower part of his back and collapsed.
He was rushed to AIIMS Hospital, Dombivli, in critical condition, with doctors first trying to stabilise him before attempting surgery.
Hospital sources said the next 48 hours are critical.
Sawant, who once worked with the State Transport Corporation, left the job to work with labour unions. He left that 10 years ago and came to Badlapur, where he contested the council election and lost.
He then began using the RTI Act to get information on both civic projects of the BMC, as well as local politicians — he filed a writ petition against MLA Kishan Kathore and challenged his election. Sawant won in the high court; the case is now pending in the Supreme Court.
Mokashi said: “We’ll have a direction to go in only after Sawant gives us a statement, but the doctors have told us he is not in a position to do that right now.”
