The Vakola police on Monday arrested former Congress corporator Razzaq Khan (78) and his son Amjad (53) in connection with the murder of RTI activist Bhupendra Vira in Kalina late on Saturday night.
The assailant is believed to have shot him through the living room window using a silenced gun, as his family members, who were in the house at the time, did not hear a gunshot.
Joint Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti said, “We have definite evidence linking both the accused to the crime and the arrests have been made on this basis.” Both the accused have been charged with murder and criminal conspiracy.
Inquiries have revealed that Vira was involved in a long-standing dispute with the Khans, who are into construction. He had filed several applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act about the legality of a lot of their projects in Vakola, and had also filed complaints with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seeking demolition of these structures.
The police said this had led to a feud between Vira and the Khans, and Vira had filed around 30 non-cognisable complaints against the father-son duo alleging that they had been threatening him.
Razzaq and Amjad were produced in court on Monday afternoon and remanded in police custody till October 24. The police are interrogating the duo to uncover the identity and whereabouts of others involved in the murder, including the man who did the actual killing and about the source of the firearm.
Meanwhile, Chief Information Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad on Monday issued orders under the RTI Act instructing the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Police to conduct a thorough probe into Vira’s murder. He also instructed the Municipal Commissioner to review all pending applications filed by him with various public information officers of the BMC and put up the information sought by him on the BMC website before October 31. The orders were issued after RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi submitted a complaint to Mr. Gaikwad following Vira’s murder.
