RTI Activist Ranjeet Soni Shot Dead in MP's Vidisha, Five Arrested

Five have been arrested in connection with the murder of RTI activist Ranjeet Soni in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh.

A Right to Information (RTI) activist was shot dead in broad daylight in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha on Thursday, 2 June. Police arrested five people including the shooter Ankit Yadav, and recovered the murder weapon on Friday.

Photo: Altered by The Quint's Deeksha Malhotra

Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested five people in connection with the murder of Right to Information (RTI) activist Ranjeet Soni, who was shot dead in broad daylight in Vidisha on Thursday, 2 June.

Ranjeet Soni was shot in front of the Vidisha district office, where he used to work, police had said earlier.

Police said that Ranjeet, who was earlier a contractor for the Public Works Department of the Vidisha district, had conflict with other contractors, including SK Choubey, Jaswant Raghuvanshi, and Naresh Sharma.

The police also said that Ranjeet too used to be a contractor and had quit this profession some years ago. Also, there had been multiple cases lodged by both parties against each other, including a case of bounced cheque against Ranjeet filed by Jaswant.

"Further investigation revealed that SK Choubey and his group contacted one of Choubey's acquaintance Shailendra Patel and plotted the killing of Ranjeet. A shooter Ankit Yadav was paid Rs 25, 000 to kill Ranjeet. Ankit fled the scene after killing Ranjeet and went to his relative's house in Silwani from where he was arrested. We have arrested five people in total and the murder weapon has also been recovered," said, Monika Shukla, Superintendent of Police, Vidisha, while talking to media on 3 June.

Ranjeet Was Killed in PWD Campus, Close to Police Station in Vidisha

Ranjeet Soni was a resident of Mukharji Nagar area in Vidisha and was killed merely 100 metres away from the Civil Lines police station inside the campus of the Public Works Department of Vidisha.

"We have sent the body to the hospital, so that a post-mortem can be done. We have started an investigation and will take action as per the facts we find. The culprits will be arrested. Footage from nearby CCTV cameras is being scanned, and eyewitnesses will also be questioned. There were documents in his bag. They, too, are being examined," Additional SP, Vidisha, Sameer Yadav, had said yesterday on 2 June.

A case was registered at the Civil Lines police station in connection with the incident.

Speaking to The Quint, Monika Shukla, Superintendent of Police, Vidisha, had said that they have lodged a case and are going through CCTV footage. The wife of the deceased has also been called from Bengaluru.

"We have lodged a case and are investigating all angles. A team has also been deployed to go through the CCTV footage of the area. We have called the wife from Bengaluru. We haven't informed her of her husband's demise, but she is on her way back. More details might come to light as investigation progresses."

Monika Shukla, SP, Vidisha