BHOPAL: The police on Tuesday claimed to have cracked the murder case of RTI activist Shehla Masood, who was shot dead in Bhopal. Zahida Pervez, a Bhopal-based architect was arrested in connection with the murder.
The RTI activist was shot dead in Bhopal on August 16, 2011 while she was leaving for a campaign of India Against Corruption (IAC).
She had, earlier, alleged that she was getting threatening calls.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials investigating the case say that Zahida Pervez had personal enmity with Shehla Masood, and so she gave money to a contract killer to eliminate her (Masood).
According to reports, the confession was made by Zahida herself before the CBI officials.
However, the person who allegedly shot at the RTI activist was later killed in Kanpur.
Reacting to the development, Shehla's father Masood Sultan said, "I thank God. I have come to know through media reports. No one has officially told me about the arrest."
Shehla was an environmentalist, wildlife activist and an RTI activist. Her murder Nobody witnessed the incident and even her family had discovered about the killing when the car didn't leave the house.
The incident had occurred at around 11 am when Shehla was about to leave for Boat Club in Bhopal to join protest in support of Jan Lokpal Bill.
The Bhopal unit of the CBI had been probing into Shehla's murder since the first week of September 2011 and had even announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for anyone giving information leading to the arrest of the assailant(s).
Shehla was working on several issues including good governance, police reforms, environment, tiger protection, transparency and RTI Act.