Navi Mumbai: RTI activist Amit Maurya, 40, was critically injured by a bullet shot near his neck after an unidentified biker fired four rounds from a pistol while Maurya and his businessman friend, Sandeep Gavas, 44, were standing near their parked car in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Rahivasi chawl area in Sector 1, Airoli, on Monday around 11.45 pm. Gavas escaped unhurt. Maurya was initially rushed to a local hospital in Airoli. As his condition was critical, he was shifted to Fortis Hospital, Mulund, reports George Mendonca.Balkrushna Sawant, senior inspector of Rabale, said, “An FIR under BNS section for attempt to murder and under the Indian Arms Act has been registered against the unidentified shooter. We scanned the footage of CCTV camera surveillance in the locality. The assailant could not be identified as he was wearing a helmet. Even in the CCTV footage of the locality, the bike’s registration number is not clearly visible.”ACP Rahul Dhas of Rabale division said, “On Monday around 11.45 pm, the RTI activist Amit Maurya and his friend Sandeep Gavas were standing near the parked MUV of Gavas when a biker wearing a helmet arrived at the spot and, brandishing a pistol, fired in their direction. As they dodged, two bullets hit the MUV’s windscreen. Maurya and Gavas ran for their lives when the assailant biker fired two more rounds in their direction by running after them. While one bullet pierced Maurya’s neck near the left ear, the other bullet fired at Gavas hit the wall on the roadside as he dodged while running away. The injured Maurya is recuperating at Fortis Hospital, Mulund.”A police officer privy to the case said that the MUV’s bonnet had the symbolic flag of the Shiv Sena as the vehicle owner was its worker. The cops are probing whether the firing was an outcome of a political or business rivalry, previous enmity or revenge. Maurya has been using the RTI Act to address civic issues and illegally constructed buildings in Navi Mumbai. The motive of the assailant for firing on the two men will be confirmed only after he is apprehended.
