Saurabh Kumar (1983–2015) was an engineering officer with the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

, hailed as one of several

whistleblowers Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

against

Corruption in India Corruption in India is an issue that affects the economy of central, state, and local government agencies. Corruption is blamed for stunting the economy of India. A study conducted by Transparency International in 2005 recorded that more than 6 ...

. He was killed under mysterious circumstances in

Kharagpur Kharagpur () is a semi- planned urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Kharagpur subdivision and the largest city of the district. It is located 1 ...

after informing his family about receiving death threats for resisting pressure to approve tenders. A graduate of BIT Sindri (2008), Kumar was posted as the purchase officer in Railway stores, handling large-volume tenders for railway scrap. He confided in his friends and family that he was under pressure to approve tenders by "politically affiliated mafia members." On 23 September 2015, his body, which had started to rot, was found at his official quarters in

. The body is reported to have had head injuries and profound bleeding. Initially, the police refused to file a foul play

FIR Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

and declared it as a case of death by snakebite. However, friends formed the group #JusticeForSaurabh on social media. After mounting pressure on the internet, along with TV images showing most of the bedsheet soaked in blood, the railway minister,

Suresh Prabhu Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (born 11 July 1953) is an Indian politician. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1996 to 2009, representing Rajapur in the Lok Sabha. He was also a member of the ''Rajya Sabha'', representing Andhra Pradesh ...

, ordered a probe, and the police agreed to register an FIR for murder. The killing is under investigation but the internet outcry continues, pointing to the police reluctance to register the murder as evidence that the investigation was sidetracked at the behest of the rail mafia. In the days after the probe was announced, the group have tried to get political backing for a stricter probe, and a candlelight vigil was organized at Jantar Mantar in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

by the political group, Swaraj Abhiyan, seeking early justice.http://www.jagran.com/delhi/new-delhi-city-13017635.html : सौरभ के लिए न्याय की मांग को लेकर कैंडल लाइट मार्च

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Saurabh Indian whistleblowers 1983 births 2015 deaths Indian anti-corruption activists