Blind RTI activist also on mining mafia's radar

Times of India: Rangpar-Gujarat: Tuesday, 05 January 2016.

Preliminary investigation into the murder of 55-year-old Karsan Ala has revealed that his cousin brother, Ratna Ala, the blind RTI activist, was also on the radar of the mining mafia.

Ratna's tireless fight against the illegal mining using RTI for the last six years had forced the state government's geology department to act against the offenders. TOI had reported on January 29, 2014, that the department had fined two units Rs 12 lakh under Gujarat Mineral (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2005, for illegal mining in Rangpar.

In October 2010 also, Ratna had received a death threat on his cell phone from an anonymous number and he had lodged an FIR at Chotila police station. He had received the threat days after filing an RTI application against illegal mining.

Sources at Wankaner police station, which is investigating Karsan's murder, told TOI that the assailants even had Ratna on their radar.

Talking to TOI, Ratna alleged that despite rampant illegal mining that he exposed through RTI, the state geology department is not responding to his applications seeking to know whether they had recovered the penalty from the miners. "Some local government officials are also tipping off the mining mafia when we give them information about the illegal activity," the RTI crusader alleged.

"My life has been under threat. I have avoided direct confrontation with those involved even when they abused me and instead used RTI as the weapon. We don't want to fight but expose illegal mining as per law and peacefully. The activity is not only resulting in depletion of grazing land but also leading to huge losses to the government treasury in form of royalty," Ratna said.

Ratna said after he got to know that the some government officers were passing on information to the accused, he started making anonymous calls to the government departments to inform them about the illegal mining.

Ala, 35, was elected as deputy sarpanch in 2012 by villagers after his selfless work for village development.