india

Updated: Mar 07, 2016 10:29 IST

An RTI activist sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s permission to commit suicide after allegedly receiving death threats over an application he had filed to seek information on disproportionate wealth amassed by certain government officials.

“I would prefer to take my own life instead of becoming a target of criminals,” Brijiraj Kishan, a 40-year-old financial consultant living with his parents and two children, wrote.

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Kishan is a self-avowed RTI activist who reportedly exposes corrupt practices in the city’s government establishments, especially the Meerut Development Authority, Nagar Nigam and Awas Vikas.

The activist said in the letter that after exposing instances of graft in the purchase department and various government schemes, he filed an RTI application last month to seek information on the disproportionate assets allegedly amassed by over 40 officials of the Meerut Development Authority. He soon began receiving threats from certain contractors and builders — a matter he immediately brought to the notice of the Partapur police. However, his requests for protection allegedly fell on deaf ears.

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Following this, Kishan sent an application to the President’s office — with a copy addressed to the Zila Suraksha Samiti — seeking permission to commit suicide.

The activist also claimed in the letter that he has filed hundreds of RTI applications to expose graft in the Meerut Development Authority, something that has caused resentment among ‘corrupt’ officials.

Partapur SHO Ran Singh told Hindustan Times that he would look into the matter, and provide security to Kishan if the death threat claims were found true.