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Satyendra Dubey, the son of Bageshwari Dubey and Phulamati Devi, was born at the village of Sahpur in the of , . The family of five girls and two boys subsisted on a small piece of land, and Bageshwari also held a low-paying clerical position in a nearby sugar mill. Until the age of 15 he studied at the Gang Baksh Kanodiya High School in Sahpur and then joined junior college at , about three hundred kilometres away. He was admitted to the Civil Engineering Department of IIT Kanpur in 1990 and graduated in 1994. Subsequently, he did his MTech (Civil Engg.) from Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) [1] in 1996.

In July 2002 he was employed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Dubey became the Assistant Project Manager at Koderma, Jharkhand, responsible for managing a part of the Aurangabad-Barachatti section of National Highway 2 (The Grand Trunk Road). This highway was part of the (GQ) Corridor Project, the Prime Minister's initiative, which aimed to connect many of the country major cities by four-lane limited-access highways totalling 14,000 km, at an overall cost more than USD 10 billion. During this period, Dubey got the contractor of the project to suspend three of his engineers after exposing serious financial irregularities. At one point, he had the contractor rebuild six kilometres of under-quality road, a huge loss for the road contract mafia.[citation needed]

The GQ project had strict controls to ensure that the construction work would be carried on by experienced firms with proper systems. A second independent contract was given for supervision of the project. However, Dubey discovered that the contracted firm, Larsen and Toubro, had been subcontracting the actual work to smaller low-technology groups, controlled by the local mafia.[clarification needed] When he wrote to his boss, NHAI Project Director SK Soni, and to Brij Satish Kapoor, engineer overlooking the supervision, there was no action.[citation needed] According to the police's First Information Report (FIR) after his murder, Dubey had been facing several threats following his action against corruption at Koderma. A subsequent FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named both Soni and Kapoor. In August 2003 when he was transferred to Gaya, a transfer which he opposed since he felt that it did not serve the interests of NHAI. At Gaya, he exposed large-scale flouting[clarification needed] of NHAI rules regarding sub-contracting and quality control. At this time he took a departmental test and was promoted as deputy general manager, which made him eligible to take charge as project director. Since there was no project director's post in Gaya, he was likely to be posted to Koderma soon. There was widespread sentiment (based on their pattern of operation), that the criminal nexus, opposed to having him as director, may have been behind his murder.[speculation?]

Meanwhile, faced with the possibility of high-level corruption within the NHAI, Dubey wrote directly to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, detailing the financial and contractual irregularities in the project. While the letter was not signed, he attached a separate bio-data so that the matter would be taken more seriously. Despite a direct request that his identity be kept secret and despite the letter's sensitive content, accusing some of Dubey's superiors, the letter along with bio-data was forwarded immediately to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Dubey also sent the same letter to the Chairman of the NHAI. Soon Dubey received a reprimand: the vigilance office of NHAI officially cautioned Dubey for the impropriety of writing a letter directly to the Prime minister. In the process, through connections in the NHAI and the Ministry.

"The entire mobilisation advance of 10 per cent of contract value, which goes up to Rs 400 million (USD 10 million) in certain cases, are paid to contractors within a few weeks of award of work but there is little follow up to ensure that they are actually mobilised at the site with the same pace, and the result is that the advance remains lying with contractors or gets diverted to their other activities," it said.

"Though the NHAI is going for international competitive bidding to procure the most competent civil contractors for execution of its projects, when it comes to actual execution, it is found that most of the works, sometimes even up to 100 per cent are subcontracted to petty contractors incapable of executing such big projects," he said. "A dream project of unparalleled importance to the Nation but in reality a great loot of public money because of very poor implementation at every state." wrote Dubey. Finally, he ends: "I have written all these in my individual capacity. However, I will keep on addressing these issues in my official capacity in the limited domain within the powers delegated to me," the letter said.

On 27 November 2003, Dubey was returning from a wedding in Varanasi, and called his driver to meet him at the station. He reached Gaya railway station at three in the morning, and found that the car was not able to come because of a battery malfunction. It appears that at this point Dubey decided to take a rickshaw home. When he didn’t reach home, his driver went to look for him and found him dead by the side of the road in the suburb of A.P. Colony. He had been shot. The news ignited tremendous public hue and cry. The matter was raised in Parliament, and the Prime Minister shifted the onus of investigation from the (who might themselves be implicated), to the CBI.[2] The CBI registered a case against unknown persons under 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code and various provision under the Arms Act on 14 December 2003.

In early investigations, the CBI interrogated the rickshaw puller Pradeep Kumar who was caught using Dubey's stolen cell phone. The mobile phone had been switched off for about a fortnight after the murder, but then Kumar called his 'second wife' in , following which the CBI traced the rickshaw puller to his slum in Gaya. Although Kumar had a criminal history in similar cases of robbery, it appears he was released after interrogation, and could not be traced a month later. Two other suspects, Sheonath Sah and Mukendra Paswan, were questioned by the CBI. They were found dead from poisoning on 1 February 2004, within 25 hours of the CBI questioning. Sah's father lodged an FIR against the CBI with the Bihar Police, but CBI Director Umashanker Mishra called their deaths a suicide in a press meeting a few days later.[3] The CBI later arrested four persons, Uday Mallah, Mantu Kumar, Tutu Kumar and Babloo, all belonging to Katari village of Gaya on 6 June 2004. On 13 June, the CBI arrested another accused Sarvan Paswan.[4] In conclusion of its investigations, CBI arraigned four persons on 3 September 2004. Based on testimony by Pradeep Kumar, who was his rickshaw puller, the event was presented as an attempted robbery. Because Satyendra put up a fight about giving up his briefcase, he was shot. The person accused of actually shooting Dubey with a country-made pistol was Mantu Kumar, son of Lachhu Singh, of Village Katari, . Accomplices with him included Uday Kumar, Pinku Ravidas and Shravan Kumar.

Mantu Kumar was arrested from near his home in Panchayatee khada in Gaya. He had apparently been living in Gaya town and working as a rickshawpuller. On 19 September 2005, while the case was being heard in , Bihar in the court of Addl. Session Judge, J M Sharma, Mantu Kumar escaped from the court premises, leading to widespread allegations of police complicity.[citation needed] While Mantu was being held at the high security Beur Jail, the invigilation can be lax during such court appearances, and it is a common tactic of the mafia to organise a few policemen to make it possible for the criminal to escape.[speculation?] It was felt that the escape was engineered by higher-ups who may have executed the murder through Mantu Kumar.[original research?] The CBI announced a cash reward of Rs. 100,000 for apprehending Mantu.[5]

It is possible that Dubey may have been the victim of a simple robbery during which Mantu Kumar shot him, as alleged in the case filed by CBI.[original research?] However, given the death and disappearance of several witnesses and the startling escape of the prime accused, there is widespread speculation that vested interests may have engaged the criminals who actually pulled the trigger.[speculation?] As for the GQ project, the Supreme Court is currently overlooking investigations into the corruption charges initially raised by the Dubey letter. Several official have been indicted and a technical team is overseeing the actual construction. Also, as of September 2005, news reports indicated that the law ministry was about to introduce legislation to protect whistleblowers. Meanwhile, on 10 February 2006, a 600 meter stretch of the GQ highway connecting Kolkata to subsided into the ground, opening up ten meter gorges near Bally, West Bengal.[6] This stretch had been executed as a joint venture between two Malaysian firms RBM and Pati, selected after global tendering.

More than six years after the murder, on 22 March 2010 Patna Court convicted three accused Mantu Kumar, Udai Kumar and Pinku Ravidas for murdering Dubey.[7] The court convicted accused Mantu Kumar under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302 (Murder), 394 (Voluntary causing hurt in committing robbery) and 27 (A) Arms Act for possessing unlicensed weapon.The other two accused were convicted under Section 302/34 (Murder committed in furtherance of common intention) and 394 IPC.

Dubey's murder drew several protests in India and abroad, especially by the media. Student and Alumni bodies of IITs took the lead in raising this issue. S. K. Dubey Foundation for Fight Against Corruption was founded in the US by Ashutosh Aman (IIT Kanpur, Satyendra's batchmate) and Atal Bansal (IIT Kanpur) to systematically fight against corruption. IIT Kanpur instituted an annual award in his name, Satyendra K Dubey Memorial Award, to be given to an IIT alumnus for displaying highest professional integrity in upholding human values.[8] Arvind Kejriwal, a recipient of this award, went on to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award as well. The Indian Express also announced a fellowship in the name of Dubey.[9] Satyendra Dubey was recognised posthumously by several awards, which included the Whistleblower of the year award from the London-based Index on Censorship,[10] the Transparency International's Annual integrity award and the Service Excellence award from the All India Management Association.[11] On 26 November 2007 NDTV aired a documentary by Mini Vaid on Satyendra Dubey, produced by Ashutosh Aman on behalf of the S K Dubey Foundation.[12] Famous Indian musician Rabbi Shergill has dedicated one stanza in his song titled 'Bilqis (Jinhe Naaz Hai)' from album Avengi Ja Nahin to Satyendra Dubey. This song is a dedication to all those who died in vain or while supporting some cause (anti-corruption).

Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS), a Non-governmental organisation from has been awarding the Satyendra Dubey award for government services in reverence to his contributions to the cause of fighting corruption.[13] His story was highlighted in the final episode of Satyamave Jayate. Also his story was shown in Sony TV's Crime Patrol Dastak and Savdhaan India of Life OK channel.

The Grand Trunk Road is one of South Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For more than two millennia, it has linked the eastern and western regions of the Indian subcontinent, running from Chittagong, Bangladesh through to Howrah, West Bengal in India, across north India into Peshawar (in present day Pakistan), up to Kabul, Afghanistan. Its former names include UttaraPatha ("Northern Road"), Shah Rah-e-Azam ("Great Road") or Sadak-e-Azam or Badshahi Sadak.

The route spanning the Grand Trunk (GT) road existed during the Mauryan Empire, extending from the mouth of the Ganges to the north-western frontier of the Empire.[1] The predecessor of the modern road was rebuilt by Sher Shah Suri, who renovated and extended the ancient Mauryan route in the 16th century.[2] The road was considerably upgraded in the British period between 1833 and 1860.[3] In ancient times, the term Uttarapatha (from the Sanskrit terms uttara, for north, and patha for road/path) referred to the northern high road, the main trade route that followed along the river Ganges, crossed the Gangetic plain, ran through the Punjab to Taxila (Gandhara) and further to Zariaspa or Balkh (Bactria) in Central Asia. The eastern terminus of the Uttarapatha was Tamraliptika (possibly present-day Tamluk) located at the mouth of Ganges in west Bengal. This route became increasingly important due to increasing maritime contacts with the seaports on the eastern coast of India during the Maurya rule. Later, Uttarapatha was the name lent to the vast expanse of region which the northern high road traversed.[citation needed]

Recent research[citation needed] indicates that during the time of the Maurya empire in the 3rd century BC, overland trade between India and several parts of western Asia and the Hellenic world went through the cities of the north-west, primarily Takshashila (Taxila in present-day Pakistan, see inset in map). Takshashila was well connected by roads with other parts of the Maurya empire. The Mauryas had built a highway from Takshashila to Pataliputra (present-day Patna in India). Chandragupta Maurya had a whole army of officials overseeing the maintenance of this road as told by the Greek diplomat Megasthenes who spent fifteen years at the Mauryan court. Constructed in eight stages, this road is said to have connected the cities of Purushapura, Takshashila, Hastinapura, Kanyakubja, Prayag, Pataliputra and Tamralipta.[1]

In the 16th century, a major road running across the Gangetic plain was built afresh by Afghan emperor Sher Shah Suri, who then ruled much of northern India for a brief period of time. His intention was to link together the remote provinces of his vast empire for administrative and military reasons. The Sadak-e-Azam ('great road') as it was then known, is universally recognized as having been the precursor of the Grand Trunk Road.

The road was initially built by Sher Shah to connect Agra, his capital, with Sasaram, his hometown. While Sher Shah died after a brief reign, and his dynasty ended soon afterwards, the road endured as his outstanding legacy. The Mughals, who succeeded the Suris, extended the road westwards to Kabul in Afghanistan, crossing the Khyber Pass and eastwards to the port city of Chittagong in southeast Bengal. This road was later improved by the British rulers of colonial India. Renamed the "Grand Trunk Road" (sometimes referred to as the "Long Walk") by the British occupiers in the 1700s, it was extended to run from Howrah to Peshawar and thus to span a major portion of India.

Over the centuries, the road, which was one of the most important trade routes in the region, facilitated both travel and postal communication. Even during the era of Sher Shah Suri, the road was dotted with caravansarais (highway inns) at regular intervals, and trees were planted on both sides of the road for shade. There are some well maintained water wells along the road in Taxila which were built for travellers during this period. The road was well planned, with milestones along the whole stretch. Some of these milestones can still be seen along the present -Ambala highway. On another note, the road also facilitated the rapid movement of troops and of foreign invaders. It expedited the looting raids, into India's interior regions, of Afghan and Persian invaders and also facilitated the movement of British troops from Bengal into the north Indian plain.

Today, the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road)remains a continuum that covers a distance of over 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi). From its origin at Chittagong, it traverses to Sonargaon in the Narayanganj District of central Bangladesh, it reaches India, passing through Howrah, Bardhaman, Panagarh (where it passes Ramnabagan Wildlife Sanctuary), Durgapur, Asansol, Dhanbad, Aurangabad, Dehri-on-sone, Sasaram, Mohania, Mughalsarai, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Kalianpur, Kannauj, Etah, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Delhi, Panipat, Karnal, Ambala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar. Within India, the major portion of the road – the stretch between Howrah to Kanpur is NH-2 and Kanpur to Delhi – is known as NH-91 and that between Delhi and Wagah, at the border with Pakistan, is known as NH-1. From the Pakistan border the Grand Trunk Road (part of the N-5) continues north through Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Attock District, Nowshera, Peshawar and Landi Kotal. It then enters Afghanistan through the Khyber pass and continues west through Jalalabad, Surobi and ends at Kabul, a large part of the Afghan leg of Grand Trunk Road is today part of the Jalalabad-Kabul Road. The Grand Trunk Road continues to be one of the major arteries of India and Pakistan. Pakistan has further developed its own extensive and large network of controlled access Motorways and Expressways. The Indian section is part of the ambitious Golden Quadrilateral project. For over four centuries, the Grand Trunk Road has remained, in the words of author Rudyard Kipling: "such a river of life as nowhere else exists in the world".[4]

^ A description of the road by Kipling, found both in his letters and in the novel "Kim". He writes: "Look! Brahmins and chumars, bankers and tinkers, barbers and bunnias, pilgrims -and potters - all the world going and coming. It is to me as a river from which I am withdrawn like a log after a flood. And truly the Grand Trunk Road is a wonderful spectacle. It runs straight, bearing without crowding India's traffic for fifteen hundred miles - such a river of life as nowhere else exists in the world."

During his five year rule from 1540 to 1545, he set up a new civic and military administration, issued the first Rupee and re-organised the postal system of India.[10] He further developed Humayun's Dina-panah city and named it Shergarh and revived the historical city of Pataliputra as Patna which had been in decline since the 7th century CE.[11] He is also famously remembered for killing a fully grown tiger with his bare hands in a jungle of Bihar.[4][9] He extended the Grand Trunk Road from Chittagong in Bangladesh to Kabul in Afghanistan.

Sher Shah was born as Farid Khan in the present day district of Mahendragarh in south Haryana, earlier part of Hisar district of combined Punjab in India. His grand father Ibrahim Khan Sur was a land lord (Jagirdar) in Narnaul area and represented Delhi rulers of that period. Mazar of Ibrahim Khan Sur still stands as a monument in Narnaul. Tarikh-i Khan Jahan Lodi (MS. p. 151).[2] also confirm this fact. However, the online Encyclopædia Britannica states that he was born in Sasaram (Bihar), in the Rohtas district.[4] He was one of about eight sons of Mian Hassan Khan Sur, a prominent figure in the government of Bahlul Khan Lodi. Sher Khan belonged to the Pashtun Sur tribe (the Pashtuns are known as Afghans in historical Persian language sources).[12] His grandfather, Ibrahim Khan Sur, was a noble adventurer who was recruited much earlier by Sultan Bahlul Lodi of Delhi during his long contest with the Jaunpur Sultanate.

During his early age, Farid was given a village in Fargana, Delhi(comprising present day districts of Bhojpur, Buxar, Bhabhua of Bihar) by Omar Khan, the counselor and courtier of Bahlul Khan Lodi. Farid Khan and his father, who had several wives, did not get along for a while so he decided to run away from home. When his father discovered that he fled to serve Jamal Khan, the governor of Jaunpur, , he wrote Jamal Khan a letter that stated:

"Faríd Khán, being an­noyed with me, has gone to you without sufficient cause. I trust in your kindness to appease him, and send him back; but if refusing to listen to you, he will not return, I trust you will keep him with you, for I wish him to be instructed in religious and polite learning."[13]