RTI activist Satish Shetty (file photo)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told a court in Maharashtra that it has found no evidence against 11 people accused of killing Right To Information activist Satish Shetty in 2010, just three days after it was given four weeks to investigate what could have been a possible motive for the murder.
"CBI could not find sufficient or prosecutable evidence against any of the accused. A closure report in the case was filed today," the investigating agency said after filing a closure report at a city court on Monday.
On Friday, the Bombay High Court had given the CBI four weeks to submit its closure report on its investigations into Mr Shetty's complaints.
The 39-year-old activist was stabbed to death on January 13, 2010, as he stepped out of his house in Talegaon near Pune for a morning walk. He was killed days after he asked for police protection, fearing a threat to his life after his complaints of shadowy land deals allegedly involving infrastructure company IRB.
Mr Shetty had alleged that the company had bought government land through forgery and cheating.
He was not given security.
The CBI had earlier acknowledged that the motive for the activist's murder could be linked to the land deals.
"This case is also said to have some relation with the murder case of Shetty. If new evidence comes to notice, CBI will reopen investigation in the case," the agency had said before its turnaround on Monday.
The case was transferred to the CBI after Mr Shetty's brother Sandeep moved the High Court.
The Pune rural police had arrested five people but they were let off on bail because of insufficient evidence.
Mr Shetty's brother Sandeep told NDTV that the CBI's decision to file a closure report is "arbitrary and amounts to contempt of the High Court's directives."
He also alleged that the agency had acted under political pressure.