A man who claimed to be a Right to Information (RTI) activist, with seven cases of extortion registered against him in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa, committed suicide on Monday morning. Jagannath Mane reportedly consumed a poisonous substance. He had only recently gotten bail from the Supreme Court.
A suicide letter in Mane's name, available with THE WEEK, names several influential persons, including a BJP ex-minister, former district collector, a senior police official, some influential businessmen and officials of a private insurance company. He had alleged persecution by them as a reason for him taking the extreme step. He claimed they were registering false cases against him (Mane) as he was using RTI to expose corruption. THE WEEK could not independently verify the authenticity of this note.
However, Kotwali police in Khandwa confirmed the suicide incident, and the recovery of the note. But, they refused to reveal the contents. “We are yet to look into the content and I cannot say anything about it,” said B.L. Mandloi, in-charge of Kotwali police station. Khandwa superintendent of police (SP) Siddharth Bahuguna told THE WEEK that Mane had seven cases of extortion registered against him and was in jail for several months before recently coming out on bail. He said the police will be investigating all angles.
