Mantralaya still searching for missing Mitkar file

The file went missing after it was sent for a photocopy. File pic/Suresh Karkera

Marine Drive police said they have recorded the statement of State Public Information Officer Prashant Rathod in relation to a file that mysteriously went missing last year, RTI activist Santosh Daundkar told mid-day on Friday. The file disappeared when it was sent to the third floor of Mantralaya for photocopy, which was supposed to be sent to the activist in response to his RTI query.

In his statement, Rathod has told the police that they are looking for the file, said Daundkar. mid-day on January 12 reported about the mysterious disappearance of the file, which is related to RB Mitkar, the deputy chief engineer at Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)-Mumbai. According to Daundkar, Maharashtra's laws state that a government officer's tenure expires in three years, however, Mitkar, who joined office on January 15, 2017, continues to hold the post. In June, Daundkar filed an RTI query seeking to know why his term was extended, but was told in July that the file had gone missing. He wrote to the Marine Drive police on November 9, urging them to register an FIR to probe how a file disappeared from Mantralaya.

The activist received a letter from the police on Thursday stating that Rathod told them that the "file related to the information sought by Daundkar about R B Mitkar is missing and the work is on to find it. As soon as that file is found, the information will be made available to Daundkar." In the statement, Rathod also said that he and his staff are personally searching for the file, Daundkar said, citing the letter. "Rathod said the same thing to me in the RTI response in July last year," he added.

It has been more than six months since the file went missing from the Housing Department of the state government, but the concerned authorities have not yet registered a case with the police, he said. "An FIR should be registered in this case under the Maharashtra Public Act 2005, but the concerned department does not want to complain to the police," he added.

"I think the file has been deliberately misplaced so that no one finds out the real reason behind the extension given to Mitkar," Daundkar said. Viswanath Kolekar, senior inspector at Marine Drive police station, told mid-day that they are investigating Daundkar's complaint about the missing file.

Six
Months since the file disappeared while being sent for photocopying