Shehla case: BJP MLA to take lie detection test

Indore: A special CBI court has directed a polygraph test to be conducted on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Dhruv Narayan Singh in the Shehla Masood murder case.

Earlier, the CBI had also questioned Dhruv Narayan Singh for his alleged role in the RTI activist's murder.

CBI officials have said that Shehla Masood's murder appears to be a "crime of passion" and whether it was part of any larger conspiracy is still a matter of investigation.

"Investigations so far indicate the RTI activist's murder appears to be a crime of passion. Whether or not the murder was part of a larger conspiracy is a matter of further probe," the officials said in Bhopal.

Specifically asked about the suspected role of Madhya Pradesh BJP MLA Dhruv Narayan Singh in the case, they said, "We have not given a clean chit to him."

The CBI has so far arrested three persons in connection with the case and they include city-based interior designer Zahida Pervez, her assistant Saba Farooqi and Shakib Ali 'Danger', an alleged history-sheeter.

Another suspect Irfaan was arrested by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh Police at Kanpur for another case.

"So far, it is clear that interior designer Zahida Pervez was the one who gave the contract for eliminating Shehla to Shakib Danger," the officials alleged.

According to preliminary probe, Zahida was jealous of Masood's alleged closeness with MLA Singh.

A CBI team with the support of local police had closely examined nearly nine lakh calls especially those made from Koh-e-Fiza, the area where Masood lived and where she was shot dead on August 16 last year.

The monitoring of calls found that Masood was shot dead at 11:19. At 11.26 am, a confirmation call was made to Zahida, the officials claimed.

It was Shakib 'Danger' who had allegedly arranged for killers from Kanpur on the instructions of Zahida and a deal involving Rs 5 lakh was struck. Of this amount, Rs 3 lakh was paid to the assailants, the officials alleged.

Though the details of the entire crime was revealed by the alleged shooter, Irfaan, the CBI is still in the process of stitching together the entire episode. The Central agency was also looking out for another shooter involved in the crime.

A court in Kanpur has allowed the CBI to interrogate Irfaan in Bhopal.

(With additional information from PTI)