Patna, July 19: An RTI activist of Rohtas-Kaimur region has landed in jail allegedly for airing his voice against public money misuse in laying power transmission line between Nabinagar in Aurangabad and Pusauli in Kaimur districts.

Arrested on Wednesday on the charge of causing obstruction in discharge of official duty, Ghulam Kundanan (50) learnt through RTI application that the firm executing the project took the longest route to fulfil vested interest of a few people. Dehri sub-divisional court on Wednesday remanded him in judicial custody for two weeks.

“Kundanan was booked under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code for causing obstruction in discharge of official duty,” said Dehri police station house officer Triloki Prasad Mishra.

Irked over the alleged police excesses, Kundanan has launched an indefinite hunger strike in Sasaram Divisional Jail demanding a CBI probe into the alleged misappropriation of public funds in laying the transmission line.

The RTI activist, a resident of Jamuhar village in Rohtas district, around 170km southwest of the state capital, said a meeting was convened at the district magistrate’s office on June 20 to discuss the matter. Sources said recently National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) officers had complained about obstacles in carrying out the project to Rohtas district magistrate Anupam Kumar, who ordered to lodge an FIR and take action against those trying to cause obstruction in the work. Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL), the firm awarded the job, said the complaint against Kundanan was lodged on the directive of the district magistrate. “We have nothing to do with the complaint,” Brij Gopal Das, KPTL’s senior project manager, Rohtas, said.

Kundanan said three routes were shortlisted for laying the transmission line. KPTL decided to go for the longest route — about 83-km-long and requiring 60 towers.