Man burnt with cigarette butts for filing RTI plea

A man was abducted and tortured by unidentified persons allegedly at the behest of a private contractor after he filed a Right to Information (RTI)  application seeking information about the quality of work being carried out by him.

“Today, a case was filed against unknown persons and a manhunt launched to nab them,” said Shailendra Pratap Singh, SHO of Dankaur police station.

In October, Anoop Singh had filed an RTI application in Yamuna Expressway Authority regarding the quality of work being carried by the contractor in the area.Singh was going from Sikka village to Dankaur area on his motorcycle on December 13 when some men on an SUV allegedly dragged him inside the vehicle and took him to an isolated place, the SHO said.

“Singh was tortured with cigarette butts and beaten by iron rods. His medical report confirms he has over three dozen burn injuries on the body,” he said. He was later dumped in Jehangirabad in Bulandashahr on December 16.

“We have zeroed in at some people and hope to arrest them soon,” he said. “The abductors took me to several places and drugged me to keep me unconscious. They wanted me to withdraw the RTI application,” said the victim