’Stop causing problems or I will have to kill you’

RTI activist received this death threat after he tried to expose irregularities in the repair contract of a building at Marine Lines

'Stop causing problems or I will have to kill you'

RTI activist received this death threat after he tried to expose irregularities in the repair contract of a buildingu00a0at Marine Lines

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YET another RTI activist has found himself at the receiving end of death threats after he requested for information related to the cost of repairing a building in Marine Lines.

RTI activist Satish Shetty was shot in Pune in January, 2010.

Sanjay Gurav (37) filed a complaint with the MRA Marg Police after he received a threatening call on March 22 from someone claiming to represent the interests of stakeholders in Saint James Coat Building, opposite Marine Plaza hotel, in Marine Lines.

The caller dialled Gurav's cellphone from a landline and told him that he knew where he lived. "He asked me to stop causing problems or else he would have to kill me.

He also asked me not to register a complaint against anybody," said Gurav, who has exposed several scams, including the misuse of St George Hospital's ambulance, in the past.

Gurav filed the RTI after he received information that the contractor repairing the building had far exceeded the amount of Rs 4.8 lakh quoted in his tender submission to the society.

The documents received in the reply showed that the cost had swelled to a whopping Rs 1.49 crore close to 30 times the initial estimate.

Gurav also found that the contractor had a licence to accept and work only on projects that would cost no more than Rs 90,000. He complained to MHADA and BMC and MHADA's vigilance department has initiated an inquiry.

While the Ambedkar Marg police registered only a non-cognisable complaint of the threat received by Gurav and not an FIR, the activist also registered a complaint (copy with MiD DAY) with Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik on Thursday.

u00a0"Gurav's complaint has been registered. The matter is under investigation," said Padmakar Juikar, senior inspector, MRA Marg police station.

When MiD DAY called the number from which Gurav had received the threatening call on Thursday, a woman answered and said the number was registered in the name of a private firm in St James Coat Building, but refused to give more details. Another call in the evening was answered by a security guard.

Previous attacks
- RTI Activist Satish Shetty was killed in January, 2010, allegedly at the behest of the land mafia he was seeking to expose
- Navin Pandya of AGNI was threatened and attacked in September 2009
- James John of AGNI was threatened and assaulted in March 2006
- Sumaira Abdulali was threatened and assaulted in May 2004

The Other Side
The contractor, Ibrahim, said, "I am unaware of any complaints against the repair contract. I don't know about any threats issued to anybody or about any police complaint filed in the case."

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