The crime branch on Friday filed a chargesheet against Shailesh Pandya in the murder case of RTI activist Amit Jethava. The 400-page chargesheet revealed that Pandya had earlier made a failed attempt also to kill Jethava. The chargesheet consists of statements of 151 witnesses. It states that Pandya was given a contract of Rs 11 lakhs to eliminate Jethava by Bahadur Wadher and Shiva Solanki. The duo hatched the conspiracy to...

The city crime branch on Friday filed a voluminous supplementary chargesheet in the RTI activist Amit Jethava murder case. The report was filed after the arrest of the sixth accused Shailesh Pandya, who is a sharpshooter. One Bahadursinh Rathod, who is believed to have helped the accused persons in carrying out illegal mining activities in the prohibited Gir sanctuary, has been shown as an absconder in the chargesheet. The investigating agency...

India’s rulers have found a new vocation – maligning environmentalists and questioning the very idea of regulating industry for pollution. Thus, faced with criticism of Lavasa, an artificial gated city of the super-rich near Pune, in which his family has invested crores, Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, lashed out at well-known activist Medha Patkar and other “vested interests” for obstructing this “pioneering” project. Lavasa’s promoters built the project without seeking environmental clearance...

At least 10 RTI applicants have been killed over the past two years, with many others facing threats in their bid to expose corruption On a Republic Day when India celebrated 61 years of justice, equality and liberty, Amar Nath Pandey says he encountered the darkest moment of his life. In late evening on 26 January, a lone assailant leaped from the folds of darkness in the street outside his house in...

Amit Jethwa had just left his lawyer’s office after discussing a lawsuit he had filed to stop an illicit limestone quarry with ties to powerful local politicians. That is when the assassins struck, speeding out of the darkness on a roaring motorbike, pistols blazing. He died on the spot, blood pouring from his mouth and nose. He was 38. Mr. Jethwa was one of millions of Indians who had embraced...