#RTI activist missing since September returns home

Gurgaon: Raman Sharma (52), the RTI activist who went missing on September 26 last year, returned home on Sunday. He was rushed to a private hospital after he complained of anxiety. Doctors said he is suffering from low blood pressure. Sharma was advised to get admitted but he refused and returned to his home in Malibu Towne.

Sharma told his family members that he was abducted from Gurgaon by a group of men after he boarded a cab from Rajiv Chowk. “The driver of the cab stopped the car and got off to clean the windscreen. Meanwhile, two men sitting in the back gagged him with a cloth, which was laced with a sedative. He lost consciousness. He later found himself at an unidentified location in a factory where he was kept for seven months. He was provided food and was taken care of,” said Vyoma, Sharma’s daughter.

According to the family members, the abductors dropped Sharma near Moolchand flyover in Delhi and gave him `350 so he could reach home. They asked him to board an autorickshaw. However, Sharma rushed to a crowded place. Since he was feeling too weak to even stand, he asked a young man to buy him a ticket for Huda City Centre Metro station and rushed home.

The family informed the Gurgaon police about his arrival, the police said.

Several officials from the Sadar police station have visited Sharma’s house twice. He was questioned for two hours and asked to assist the police in the investigation. His statement was also recorded.

ACP (Sadar) Dharna Yadav said, “Sharma said he was abducted in September and was set free on Sunday around 3:30pm. We are investigating the case. He did not see the faces of the abductors nor did they interact with him. It is shocking that he was abducted without any motive and then released unharmed.”

Vyoma said, “He was not feeling well and we wanted him to rest since he has returned after a long time and was traumatised. He needs time to settle down. He will talk about the incident once he feels better.”

Before Sharma went missing, he had sent several emails to the President, Prime Minister, chief minister and the DGP, claiming that some engineers of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) had connived with a contractor during the construction of the master stormwater and sewage drains. He said it was a `1,200-crore fraud.

Sharma has been filing RTI pleas since 2008. He has filed around 1,000 RTI pleas that seek to expose corruption with regard to filing of tenders by construction companies. Last July, he approached the Lokayukta for an investigation into third party inspection certificates allegedly issued for advance dates to a Huda contractor. The same contractor, Brij Gopal Construction Company, filed an extortion case against Sharma in Faridabad on September 24.

On September 26, Sharma’s wife had dropped him at Rajiv Chowk around 4 in the morning. Sharma had told his family members that he had to go to Chandigarh to meet lawyers for a case filed by him with the Lokayukata.

When his wife tried to call him at around 8 am the same day, she realised that he had left his phone at home. She then waited for a day but Sharma did not contact her. Sharma’s family started contacting his friends and lawyers. It turned out that Sharma did not meet his lawyers in Chandigarh. None of his friends knew about his whereabouts.

His wife then approached the Sadar police station after three days.