The opposition MP will appear in court after being arrested in connection with the 2010 killing of an activist who was campaigning against illegal mining in a protected forest in Gujarat
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - India's Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI) has arrested an opposition parliamentarian in connection with the killing of an activist who had campaigned against illegal mining in the west of the country, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.
Dinu Bogha Solanki, of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, was arrested on Tuesday as part of a CBI investigation into the death of activist Amit Jethwa, who was shot in July 2010.
"He (Solanki) will be produced in a Delhi court tomorrow. A probe in the case is in progress", a CBI spokesman was quoted as saying.
Jethwa, an environmentalist and social worker, had been trying to draw attention to illegal mining in the protected Gir forest - a sanctuary for the endangered Asiatic lion - in Gujarat state.
He had filed numerous applications for information about mining in the forest under India's Right to Information Act (RTI).
Human rights groups say activists fighting for transparency are often at risk, particularly those working against the illegal mining sector.
In 2011, a nun active in supporting the rights of villagers threatened by coal miners was hacked to death with an axe by unknown assailants in the central state of Jharkhand.
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