Mumbai cops book city RTI activist to cover illegal detention?

Mumbai cops book city RTI activist to cover illegal detention?

NAGPUR: Mumbai police have booked under several charges a Nagpur-based Right to Information (RTI) Act activist after she allegedly protested her ouster from appeal proceedings in Urban Development Department (UDD) last week.

Ankita Shah, 24, who has been made accused in the case, has also filed a cross complaint against UDD principal secretary Shreekant Singh and the police for illegally detaining her at Marine Drive police station. Daughter of grain trader Kamlesh Shah, Ankita has exposed several irregularities in the functioning of different government departments and also flouting of norms in giving sanctions to the big projects using RTI.

"I was taken to police station at exactly 1.53 pm and released at 9.10 pm. The cops did not inform me anything about the action they were taking against me. They were not ready to pay heed to my side of the story and reluctant to receive the complaint I wanted to lodge against the UDD principal secretary as he used police machinery to remove me from his office during appeal," said Ankita. She has been booked for allegedly obstructing a government servant from discharging his duty, criminal trespass, and threatening.

She later filed a RTI application to know what action were taken against her at police station. Ankita said police did not inform her about the offence they were registering against her which she came to know through media. Ankita had gone to intervene in the appeal on June 15 against the cancellation of the lease of Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) land on which Pravesh Enterprises had erected a six-storeyed cold storage at Chikhli. The cold storage building had collapsed on January 30 last year killing 18 people and injuring many more.

Apart from the Pravesh Enterprise, Punjab National Bank too was a party to the appeal which was also attended by the NIT officials and others before the UDD principal secretary Singh. Ankita had challenged Singh who wanted the activist to remain out of the proceedings. The UDD officials informed the control room that alerted the Marine Drive police station. Ankita was dragged to Marine Line police station.

Ankita said she had every right to intervene in the appeal hearing. "As a member of the public, I am qualified to intervene into a matter where so many lives were lost and also as victim. My father had faced huge loss due to the collapse. I had accordingly written to Singh," she said.

Deputy commissioner of police, Zone-I, Mumbai, Ravindra Shisve said Ankita was not illegally detained but acted upon as per the legal provision. "We have received the complaint lodged by her too and it is being given for conducting an inquiry," said Shisve. "We had to react after the call from the government office where she was arguing or else we would have faced criticism," he said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Mumbai-cops-book-city-RTI-activist-to-cover-illegal-detention/articleshow/20707241.cms