Lalit Mehta

Mehta, a 36-year-old engineer-turned-social-activist, was involved in activities that sought to advance rural employment, basic health facilities, right to food, and child rights. His organisational involvement was essentially with foundations that had a Gandhian orientation and outlook. Mehta was a full-time activist of the Right to Food Campaign and the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan; he was also the secretary of the Vikas Sahyog Kendra (VSK), a non-governmental organisation based in Palamau.^[1]

Mehta was murdered in 2008. After his murder, the Naxals belonging to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) distributed a leaflet claiming that they knew Mehta's killers and they would be brought to justice, saying that they would make crimes such as murder be punishable by death.^[2] In January 2009 Chennai Police recovered the body of Raju Singh, who was the prime suspect in the crime, claiming that he was killed by naxals.^[1]