Bhopal:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has identified the shooter, who allegedly shot dead RTI activist Shehla Masood last year. The CBI conducted raids last evening along with Special Task Force (STF) in Kanpur and arrested Tabish, the man suspected to have shot Ms Masood. He has been taken to Lucknow.
A BJP MLA, Dhruv Narayan Singh, has been interrogated thrice in connection with the murder of Ms Masood who was found dead in Bhopal. A CBI court has ruled that Mr Singh will have to go through a lie detector test.
Ms Masood's assassination was allegedly planned by Zahida Parvez, an interior decorator who was jealous of the activist's close friendship with Mr Singh. Ms Parvez was allegedly involved with the 53-year-old MLA, and stalked him secretly. The CBI believes she monitored his phone bills to track who he was in touch with, and followed him once to Ms Masood' home. These details were revealed by a diary that Ms Parvez fastidiously maintained; it is now important evidence against her.
The interior decorator, who was arrested earlier this month, has consented to a lie detector test. Two men who helped her kill Ms Masood had also been arrested; so was a woman named Saba Farooqi who was close to Ms Parvez and was aware of her plans to murder the activist.
Mr Singh, the son of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Govind Singh, was also chairman of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC) and Bhopal Development Authority (BDA).