Mangaluru (The Hindu): The city police have arrested two persons on charges of murdering 51-year-old RTI activist Vinayak Baliga on March 21. Police Commissioner M. Chandra Sekhar gave the names of the accused as Vineet Poojary (26) and Niteesh Devadiga (23). Mr. Sekhar told reporters that a special investigation team is tracing the other accused.

Stating that it is too early to ascertain the reasons behind the murder, Mr. Sekhar said police are not ruling out the victim’s RTI activism leading to the murder. The accused, who do not have any criminal antecedent, were in fact hired to execute Baliga. It could be a ploy to baffle the police as they normally would track persons with antecedents first. The accused had made a futile bid on Baliga on March 20 morning and executed the mission the next day in the pretext of asking an address from Baliga, he said. Poojary did odd contract jobs, while Devadiga was running a car rental service. The city police will go deep into the murder and arrest all those who are involved, which was a promise made to family members of Baliga, he added.

“We will not only arrest them, but also ensure that this sensitive case reaches its logical conclusion,” he said.

Baliga, an electrical contractor, had filed applications under the RTI Act seeking information regarding a few electrical works of the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited and of unauthorised constructions from the Mangaluru City Corporation. He had also questioned the affairs of Venkataramana Temple and of South Canara District Central Cooperative Bank, the police said.