A day after mid-day reported how BMC chief Ajoy Mehta was left red-faced after RTI activists sent him a list of corrupt civic officials, the social crusaders were allegedly bombarded with calls offering bribes to withdraw their complaints against illegal constructions. The activists alleged that municipal officials had leaked their contact numbers in a bid to trap them in corruption cases.

"A day after mid-day published the news, I started getting calls from unknown numbers. One of the callers told me that a P-north ward official had given my number to him. He offered a bribe to settle the complaint I had lodged with the BMC, but I refused and disconnected the call," recalled Mohammed Imran Shaikh, a whistle-blower who had featured in mid-day's report on the activist-BMC feud on August 16.