CBI registers case in Shehla Masood murder case

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday registered a case relating to the murder of RTI activist Shehla Masood who was shot dead outside her house in Bhopal.

The case has been registered against unnamed persons by Bhopal unit of the agency, CBI sources said in New Delhi.

The Centre had received a letter from Madhya Pradesh government requesting for a CBI probe into the murder of Masood in Bhopal.

Official sources said the letter was received last week by the Department of Personnel from the state government.

Shehla was shot dead when she was going towards her car outside the residence in posh Koh-e-Fiza locality in Bhopal on August 16. Madhya Pradesh Police, probing the case, is likely to question Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tarun Vijay.

Police could not figure out the motive but suspected she was eliminated by some powerful persons against whom she had filed RTI applications.

Shehla had earlier gone on a hunger strike in Bhopal in Hazare's support. She was also involved in other causes, including wildlife conservation.

Sultan Masood, her father, had said he expected no justice, being a "lower middle-class person", and did not think that police were probing the case sincerely.

He alleged that in January this year, Shehla had filed a complaint with the Lokayukta that she feared threat to her life from senior IPS officer Pawan Shrivastava.