The CBI unit of Pune has taken over the investigations in the sensational murder case of RTI activist Satish Shetty. The case was earlier being handled by CBI, Mumbai office, following an order from the Bombay high court. CBI director Amar Pratap Singh issued an order on August 4 to transfer the case to the Pune office. CBI deputy inspector general of police Pravin Salunke said, "The Pune office is in a...

Anna Hazare's campaign may lead to a new Lokpal Bill, but it has legitimised middle-class vigilantism and other kinds of civil society mobilisation. NOW that Anna Hazare has declared victory, it is time to take stock of one of the most powerful recent mobilisations of people in India, focussed on influencing policy or lawmaking processes. The victory, however, is largely symbolic. The original demand of the movement, carefully built around Hazare's...

Gate erected by caste Hindus to be removed A gate erected on Dalit Street 35 years ago to prevent Dalits from entering the area occupied by upper caste Hindus will be removed. Though it was kept open in the last five years, the 75-odd Dalit families used to avoid the street fearing repercussions. They used to go to MGR daily market via Royakottai main road. The street falls in the Reserved Ward...

A mysterious death in Raipur hospital reveals routine cross-border raids in A.P. by Chhattisgarh police They lock the door when a post-mortem is under way, but the smell of death seeps through the exhaust vents of the mortuary at the Medical College Hospital in Raipur. Outside the morgue, a pack of dogs sniffed the air experimentally; inside, the corpse of Gangraj, a middle-aged Adivasi man lay in body bag in a...

In the wake of the recent killing of an RTI activist in Bhopal, another case of an RTI activist getting threats has come to light in Mumbai. Interestingly, this time a senior police inspector of Navghar police station in Mulund could come under the scanner. Ankur Patil, a Mulund based RTI activist who has been collecting information under the RTI Act against the corrupt elected representatives (DNA story “Netas with corruption...