From all accounts, she had taken a consistent stand against the corruption prevalent in the business. In particular, Sathbaya is said to have been instrumental in getting a stay on the sale of shops in the Jalaram Complex.

Statements made during the day, and yesterday, in reaction to her death show that she had been living under threat for some time. Councillor Vasu Patel was one such colleague who had advised her to change her ways, that she could not fight a quixotic battle.

Another woman councillor told this reporter that Satbhaya had been in possession of a file that could damage ``well-entrenched vested interests'', and even made representations to Gandhinagar.

Kaneriya himself said that several builders were being interrogated in this connection.

She was a member of the SMC's town planning committee till recently. As a senior councillor said, ``She was not heard on matters of town planning even when she was on the committee; she was not taken into confidence. But her enthusiasm was not dampened. Her fighting spirit kept her going.''

Kaneriya made another telling statement during the day, that the role of her party colleagues would also be probed. It's no secret that the builders' lobby wields immense clout in Surat. City BJP president Praveen Naik, who said Satbhaya had complained to the authorities about land disputes, admitted that the builders ``are the biggest contributor to my party's kitty and in return they get favour. But this practice is not confined to the BJP. All political parties do the same.''

A senior standing committee member said Satbhaya could have been a stumbling block for some builders whose financial interests were being adversely affected because of her fight against them. The civic body was in the process of finalising a TP Scheme in Rander-Adajan, the areas she represented as councillor, and, one councillor said, she was kept in the dark on the issue.