Airport scam exposé: RTI activist alleges death threats

Airport scam exposé: RTI activist alleges death threats
RTI activist Vishwas Bhamburkar, who recently filed a case against the Airports Authority of India-MIAL combine, for the alleged Rs 5,887 crore infrastructure scam, as well as two cases against the police for failing to follow the law, has now complained of receiving death threats.

In a written complaint to the police in Ahmedabad, where he resides, Bhamburkar has said that three men speaking a mix of English and Hindi threatened him after accosting him near his home on Saturday evening, a day after he visited the Sahar police station and recorded statements in a fourth case he is in the process of filing.

“I was walking home after running an errand when three men approached me. They asked if I was the Vishwas who had filed cases in the Mumbai airport matter. When I replied positively, they told me to back off. They asked me why I was doing this, and claimed they had managed to change the dates of hearing from February 23 to March 27. They warned me that if I did not pull back, I might not be around a month later,” Bhamburkar told Mirror.

Bhamburkar, who is also an ultramarathoner and the only Indian to run the Brazil 135 Ultramarathon in 2014, has filed three FIRs with the airport police in Mumbai. The first was on November 1, 2014, against Alok Sinha, then joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation, Dr GVK Reddy and GV Sanjay Reddy, of MIAL among others. The complaint was made on the basis of a CAG audit, that accused the civil aviation ministry and AAI of failing to effectively monitor the construction of the new terminal at Sahar, the new ATC Tower, and other airport infrastructure, that resulted in undue benefit to the private concessionaire.

In Bhamburkar’s two cases against the police, the two FIRs have named certain policemen for criminal misconduct and for allegedly conniving with the accused of the airport scam to shield them.

The fourth case that Bhamburkar had visited the Sahar police station for pertains to his complaint that the multi-level parking at T2 does not have security clearance from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, as it does not fulfil the requirement of having a 500 mt buffer zone with the terminal building.

“I sent a copy of my complaint to Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria as well. He sent it to the Sahar police who, without registering an FIR, issued me a notice. I went to the Sahar police and had my statement recorded on Friday evening, following which the threats were made,” Bhamburkar said.

Senior Police Inspector Prashant Marde of Sahar said it would be premature to comment as they were still looking into the matter.