India

PUNE RTI ACTIVIST COMMITS SUICIDE

Handwritten suicide note blames several politicians and IPS officers

BeyondHeadlines Special Correspondent

PUNE: RTI activist Vilas Dattatrey Baravakar (53) allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself to death at his residence in Chakan about 40 km away from Pune on Tuesday morning. The police have recovered Baravkar’s suicide which has raised the pertinent issue of RTI activists security in the State. The suicide note mentions names of several prominent politicians of Maharashtra including top serving and retired officers of the Indian Police Service (IPS)  The suicide is a reminder of another tragic incident when  RTI activist Satish Shetty was murdered in broad-day light at Talegaon Dhabade in 2009.

Vilas Baravkar

The Chakan police has recovered four page suicide note from his possession  The handwritten note  in Marathi on a Rs 100 stamp paper has mentioned the names of prominent politicians,   names of former and serving IPS officers, local politicians, local policemen and some residents as well. The suicide note has put blame on the individuals mentioned in the suicide note.  He had also mentioned that the individuals had harassed him several times in the past.

In the suicide note, Baravakar has mentioned names of  IPS officers , two deputy superintendent of police Khed divisions , several politicians that includes as mant as seventy eight  persons. According to Chakan police, on Monday Baravkar had gone to Khed Tehsildar office for his work and returned in the evening and thereafter he told his guard  Suresh Jadhav , a police constable , to go to police station. Accordingly, Jadhav went away.

The residence of Baravkar in Chakan

The residence of Baravkar in Chakan

Assistant police inspector Kishor Patil of Chakan police station who is investigating case said, “After dropping the constable, Baravkar sat in a vehicle and wrote something on stamp paper. Later, his family members slept in another room while he slept in other room.  The incident came to light, when Barvakar’s wife did not see him in the main room in the wee hours of Tuesday. She went to his room and found it locked. Sensing something suspicious, she called her son to the door. Later, they broke the door and found Baravkar hung to the ceiling. They immediately informed Chakan police about the incident,” he said.

The Chakan police conducted a spot Panchanama, recovered suicide note from the room and shifted the body to Chakan rural hospital for post mortem. Last rites on Baravkar were performed in the evening.  His family intially offered resistance and refused to take body demanding stern action against culprits behind suicide. They relented after the top brass of Pune rural police intervened.

Additional superintendent of police Vijaykumar Magar had visited the spot and met the relatives. Magar said, “The situation is under control. We have given confidence to the family and relatives. We will investigate the case in detail and thereafter future course of action will be decided.”

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