RTI Activist Shot at in Chhattisgarh

Outlook: Raigarh: Sunday, July 08, 2012.

RTI activist Ramesh Agarwal was shot at and injured in broad daylight by two persons riding a motor-cycle in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district today.

The attackers, aged between 25 and 27 years, fired two bullets at Agarwal, also an environmental rights campaigner, at his computer shop in Aitbari Bazar, Raigarh SP Neha Pandey said.

The RTI activist, who suffered gunshot wounds in his thigh, was admitted to a hospital where the bullets embedded in his left thigh were removed, she said.

Agrawal, who works for environmental rights organisation Jan Chetna Manch, is out of danger, doctors said.

The RTI activist shot to limelight last year when the Amnesty International demanded his unconditional release after he was arrested for staging a protest against public hearing conducted for an industrial project.

Agarwal has been campaigning against pollution caused by industrial projects and the potential negative environmental impact of proposed projects in central Chhattisgarh.