RTI Activist Murder: Ex-BJP MP, 6 Others Get Life Imprisonment

Special CBI court found former BJP MP Dinu Solanki and 6 others guilty for the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethva.

Ex-BJP MP Dinu Solanki has been found guilty of conspiracy in Amit Jethva’s murder.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Dinu Solanki)

Ahmedabad CBI Court on Thursday, 11 July, sentenced former BJP MP Dinu Solanki and and six other accused to life imprisonment in the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethwa, reported ANI.

Earlier, a special CBI court had found all seven accused of killing RTI activist Amit Jethva guilty. This includes ex-BJP MP Dinu Bogha Solanki, who was found guilty of conspiracy and murder along with his nephew Shiva Solanki.

The CBI court’s verdict comes 9 years after Jethva was shot dead outside the Gujarat High Court by two assailants. An RTI activist and environmentalist, Jethva exposed alleged illegal mining in the Gir forest area in Gujarat, naming Dinu Solanki and some of his relatives in a PIL filed in the court.

On 20 July when Jethva was on his way to meet his lawyer at the high court, he was shot dead. While initially, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch gave a clean chit to Dinu Solanki and charge-sheeted six accused – Shiva Solanki, Shailesh Pandya, Bahadursinh Vadher, Panchan G Desai, Sanjay Chauhan and Udaji Thakore – Dinu Solanki was arrested in 2013 after the investigation was handed over to the CBI.

Over the course of the trial, multiple witnesses turned hostile after allegedly receiving threats. Amit Jethva’s father then moved high court seeking a fresh trial in the case.

(With inputs from ANI.)