On December 29, 2016 – at around 7:30pm – Right to Information activist Srinath left his home with two colleagues to do some electrical work in Southern Mysoru. When he did not return the next day his family lodged a missing persons complaint with the police. His body was later discovered in the Cauvery river near Srirangapatna bearing multiple stab wounds and evidence of torture.

Srinath and his family had been living at Rajarajeshwari Layout developed by the local housing co-operative society since 2008. The society had allotted sites without providing basic amenities such as drinking water, street lights and roads. In his capacity as an RTI activist Srinath had obtained documents proving the illegal allotment of sites, land encroachment and other abuses of power. These documents greatly helped farmers whose land was being encroached in their court battles. Further to this he informed the anti-corruption Bureau about officials who had amassed wealth through illegal means.

Srinath’s brothers told reporters that he had been openly threatened by members of the housing society and offered bribes of land allotments in exchange for his silence. Six people have been arrested in the aftermath of the murder with some reports casting suspicion on a Mysuru Urban Development Authority assistant engineer.