The Indian government has ordered a full investigation into the brutal murder of a whistleblower who wrote to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee about rampant corruption plaguing the leader's pet development project.
Satyendra Dubey, 31, a civil engineering graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), had requested that his identity be kept confidential, but bureaucrats in the Prime Minister's Office did just the opposite.
Dubey was shot dead on November 27 in the town of Gaya in Bihar state. According to the police, he was killed by contractors whose corruption he brought to the premier's attention.
National outrage over his death has forced authorities to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation for an impartial and speedy probe.
So far, as many as 18,000 IIT alumni from around the world and eminent Indians have signed a website petition addressed to Mr Vajpayee demanding that the murderers and those who leaked Dubey's identity be brought to justice, reported the Indian Express, the newspaper which broke the story.
Dubey joined the Indian Engineering Service after graduation and was in direct charge of the 60km Aurangabad-Barachatti stretch of the Golden Quadrilateral highway project in Bihar state.