An RTI activist and freelance journalist Rajendra Kumar succumbed to poison he ingested at Hamidia Hospital here on Wednesday. He took tablets in front of the Chief Secretary’s office on Tuesday and fell unconscious, after which he was admitted to intensive care.
In a complaint to the Director General of Police, submitted at the Govindpura Police Station on October 10, Mr. Kumar had threatened to kill himself if the police did not arrest 31 persons who were allegedly harassing him. The persons he has named in his complaint are those against whom he has filed a public interest litigation in the High Court, in Jabalpur, alleging that they have used fake caste certificates to get government jobs. The case has been pending since 2009.
In July, Kumar had also filed a complaint at the Cyber Cell that one Shailendra Khambra of Sonepat in Haryana had threatened to kill him by posting a comment of Opposition Leader Ajay Singh’s Facebook wall. DGP Nandan Dube said facebook.com, which is based in the United States, has still not responded to requests for information from the Madhya Pradesh Police.
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In 2006, the Scheduled Tribes State Level Investigation Committee had recommended the revocation of Khambra’s Beldar caste certificate.
“We are investigating, but we can ascertain the identity of those threatening him once Facebook responds. This man was also facing four cases including that of 420 (cheating),” said Mr. Dube. Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president Kantilal Bhuria has demanded a job for a kin of Mr. Kumar and has asked the government to hand over the case to the CBI.