Una (HP), Aug 14: A team of Himachal Pradesh anti-corruption and vigilance bureau on Wednesday arrested an RTI activist while he was allegedly taking Rs 25 lakh as “extortion money”, vigilance officials said.
The accused, Raj Sharma, a resident of Unam had allegedly demanded money from the crusher owners in the district by threatening to file a complaint against them on their mining operations, they said.
“Sharma had asked for Rs 75 lakh and today he agreed to accept the first installment of Rs 25 lakh. The deal took place in Chandigarh, from where he was arrested,” an official said.
A case of extortion under Section 308(2) of BNS 2023 has been registered against the accused in state vigilance and anti-corruption police station Una on the complaint of two crusher owners Rohan Vij and Gursajjan Bedi, the officials added.
The activist used to forage for information through RTI and then blackmail stone crushers and mining lease holders, the officials alleged , adding further investigation is on.
