NHRC sends notice to Maharashtra DGP and chief secretary over RTI activist’s suicide

RTI activist Vilas Baravkar was found dead in his apartment in an apparent suicide, on March 25 in Pune. Extreme controversy ensued after the suicide note was discovered on Rs100 stamp paper naming 52 individuals including senior Congress leaders as well as IPS personnels.

Now, even as the investigation over the cause of suicide is under way, the National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognizance issuing notices to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of Maharashtra to report in the matter within two weeks. “The contents of the report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of an RTI activist,” the NHRC explained in a press statement.

A day before his suicide, Baravkar visited the Khed Tehsildar officer in connection with his work. Reportedly, the RTI activist had a police constable as guard, whom he had relieved for the evening, asking him to go back to police station. Hours later Baravkar was found dead. “Baravkar left a suicide note behind alleging that several prominent politician and top serving and retired officers of Indian Police Service in Maharashtra were harassing him. He has named several persons who he said were harassing him for long,” the NHRC stated.

Baravkar has named police officers like Vishwas Nangre Patil, Pratap Dighavkar, two deputy superintendents of police from Khed division and politicians like former legislator Ram Kandage, Suresh Gore, Ashok Bhujbal, Kiran Manjre and Krushna Nanekar. Read more