Trashing the rights cosseted under the Right to Information (RTI) Act yet another activist was murdered in Mangalore by unidentified assailants on Tuesday.
Reportedly, Vinayak Baliga (51) was attacked near his residence by two assailants on a motor bike. According to the Mangalore police, the RTI activist was attacked with sharp-edged weapons. Reportedly, Baliga suffered 17 stab injuries and later succumbed to them.
Baliga, an electrical contractor by profession, was instrumental in bringing electricity theft in the city to light through RTI. He was a bachelor and lived with his parents and sister.
Congress led UPA government invoked the RTI in 2005 in a bid to make the country’s administrative system transparent and eventually devoid of corruption.
Since its inception in 2005, more than 45 RTI users including activists were murdered in various parts of the country. According to unofficial records, nearly 250 RTI users reported incidents of assault or harassment.
Repeated assaults on RTI activists across the land indicate the omnipresence of politically backed plutocrats who would not hesitate to exterminate individuals who expose discrepancies entrenched in the system.
