Shehla murder: CBI to probe BJP legislator’s role

Eight months after the CBI gave him a clean chit in its probe into the murder of activist Shehla Masood by hired killers in Bhopal in August 2011, BJP legislator Dhruv Narayan Singh is back under its scanner. Abhishek Sharan reports.

Eight months after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) gave him a clean chit in its probe into the murder of activist Shehla Masood by hired killers in Bhopal in August 2011, BJP legislator Dhruv Narayan Singh is back under its scanner.

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The CBI will soon grill two key female accused who had allegedly hatched Masood's murder conspiracy, Bhopal-based interior designer Zahida Parvez and her colleague Saba Farooqui, “to verify their allegations that it was Singh who was the main brain behind the crime but slipped away,” a CBI source told HT.

The agency will seek court's permission to grill the duo who are in judicial custody. So far, the CBI has found no evidence against Singh and the latter has rejected allegations about his role in the crime.

CBI sources added, “The accused duo, Zahida and Saba, have been constantly alleging that Singh had a role. We want to verify their allegations to remove any doubt.”

In its case chargesheet, the CBI had named five accused including Parvez and Farooqui, along with three killers allegedly hired by the former to kill Masood due to suspicions that the latter was getting close to Singh. Singh was allegedly close to both Masood and Parvez.