Chandra Mohan Sharma
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Chandra Mohan Sharma | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 (age 49–50) |
| Occupation | RTI activist |
| Known for | Campaign against land mafia |
| Political party | Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) |
| Criminal charge | Murder[1] |
Chandra Mohan Sharma (born 1976) is an Indian social activist who used the Right to Information (RTI) act to fight against illegal encroachments of government land. He was known for his campaign against the land mafia in NOIDA and Delhi region. In 2014, he was arrested after he killed a homeless man and faking his own death. He was one of the early members of the Anna Hazare-led 2011 anti-corruption movement, and later the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).[2]
Sharma was a part-time RTI activist. He worked as an employee at Honda Siel manufacturing unit at Greater Noida, in the maintenance department. He had been living in Greater Noida for over 12 years. As an activist, he filed around 300 RTI applications to expose the illegal land encroachment in the Noida-Delhi region.[2] Sharma also filed RTI applications pertaining to other issues. For example, in 2011, he had filed an RTI application against illegal fireworks sales in Chandigarh.[3]
Killing and staged death
Sharma lived with his wife Savita and had an unhappy married life.[citation needed] [Check Grammar] In 2014, he decided to fake his own death so that he could start a new life with his 25-year-old girlfriend Preeti Nagar, who lived in the same neighbourhood.[4] He convinced his brother-in-law Videsh to help him by suggesting that Savita would get money from insurance policies after his staged death. His employer Honda was obliged to pay his family ₹ 3,600,000 in case of his death; he had another life insurance policy worth ₹ 300,000.[1]
In April 2014, Sharma filed an RTI case against the alleged illegal encroachments on a temple land in Kasna village in Greater Noida. He claimed that he received threats to his life due to this, and filed a first information report (FIR) on 29 April, naming several persons for the threats.[5] He became friendly with a mentally unstable homeless man who used to roam around in the area of his residence. On 1 May 2014, Sharma strangled the homeless man using a belt, with Videsh's help. The two put the dead body on the driver's seat of Sharma's Chevrolet Aveo, poured three litres of petrol on it, and set the car on fire on a desolate stretch near Eldeco Crossing in Greater Noida. By the time the firefighters arrived, the car had been badly burnt and the dead body had been charred beyond recognition.[1][2]
Meanwhile, Sharma's family tried to call him, but his mobile phone was unreachable. In the morning, Sharma's relatives identified the body as his, through the car's license plate. The police initially suspected that Sharma's car had caught fire, and he could not open the door due to a malfunction of the vehicle's central locking.[6] However, Sharma's relatives alleged that he was murdered for fighting against the land mafia, and accused the police of not acting on the FIR he had filed before his death.[5][7] On the complaint of a family member, the police lodged a murder case against five people at the Kasna police station.[6]
Sharma's wife Savita was the secretary of the western Uttar Pradesh wing of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).[8] On 2 May, the AAP demanded a probe in the alleged murder, and also asked the state government to reprimand the police for their alleged laxity.[9] Two days later, the AAP members organised a candle march in Greater Noida, and shouted slogans against the police. They condemned the alleged police apathy, and threatened to intensify their stir if no arrests were made in the case.[8] The party's leader, Arvind Kejriwal, sought a speedy probe into the alleged murder.[10]