An RTI activist missing since January 30 was found dead in Pune district, a police officer said on Tuesday.

Police suspect Vinayak Shirsath, 32, was murdered.

The decomposed body was found near a village on Lavasa Road on Monday evening, the officer said.

Shirsath, a resident of Pune city, was reported missing on January 31. His family had registered a police complaint.

'We later registered a kidnapping case on February 5 after his family raised a suspicion that he might have been abducted as he had raised his voice under the Right to Information (RTI) Act against illegal construction work in some parts of the city,' the police officer said.

Shirsath's family pointed fingers at several people linked to the real estate sector, but during the probe all of them were found to be close friends of the deceased, he said.

A case has now been registered under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and a probe is under way, the police said.