MCD engineers threatened to kill me, alleges RTI applicant

NEW DELHI - A Right to Information (RTI) applicant Monday alleged that two engineers of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) threatened to kill him if he pursued his quest for information.

Mohit Sharma, 33, a resident of Dilshad Garden applied for information about illegal construction in Shahdara area. However, when he didn’t get information, he approached the Central Information Commission (CIC). He runs a confectionery shop in Dilshad Garden area.

Though the CIC ordered the MCD officials to provide him the information, till date he claims he has not got the information.

In the past, I got a few threats not to pursue my application but I never paid heed to them. But on March 12 afternoon, three persons - MCD’s executive engineer B.M.N. Rao, assistant engineer Umesh Singh and one unidentified man - came to my house. They were very angry with me and said, ‘Due to your case, the CIC is after us and even our superintending engineer has issued a showcause notice to B.M.N. Rao’, Mohit told IANS.

Umesh Singh threatened me and said ‘you are too young to play with such dangerous things’. He said, ‘you do not have an idea what actually you are doing, you are playing with fire and it can harm you’, Mohit alleged.

Mohit has a hearing scheduled in his case at the CIC Wednesday but alleged that they warned him not to attend it.

Umesh Singh warned me against attending the March 17 hearing. He said if I don’t tell information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi that I have got all the information, then he will shoot me. He said, ‘no one can survive after having a clash with MCD officials’, Mohit Sharma said.

Mohit alleged Umesh Singh threatened him that he would demolish his house and his brother’s shop.

However, the MCD officials - B.M.N. Rao and Umesh Singh - refuted all allegations and said they never threatened him.

He is just like other RTI applicants. Government officers can’t even kill a fly, why will we threaten him of life, Umesh Singh said to IANS but admitted that they went to Sharma’s house.

Mohit Sharma said: He (Umesh) told me that they take only 10 minutes to start action. ‘We keep on getting suspended and reinstated. If you die in an accident, then no-one can do anything. You have to live a long life but in this way you cannot live long’.

I am scared for my life but will not withdraw from the case. The authorities should take proper action against them, he said.

The country has recently witnessed a number of incidents in which activists were either killed or attacked for asking information under the RTI act.