Shehla murder: Accused blames BJP legislator

Bhopal, April 13 (IANS) Saba Farooqui, an accused in transparency activist Shehla Masood's murder here last year, alleged Friday that Bhopal's Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Dhruv Narayan Singh masterminded the crime and the CBI was shielding him.

Farooqui said this to reporters before entering the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Indore.

While she was entering the court, she said: "Dhruv Narayan Singh is the mastermind."

He is "100 percent involved in it", she said.

A counsel representing the CBI said that she refused to get her statement registered before a magistrate.

During hearing Wednesday, prime accused Zahida Parvez had also alleged that the CBI was shielding the legislator.

CBI counsel Hemant Shukla told reporters that Farooqui did not record her statement before a magistrate that could have been used as evidence in the case.

Asked about the accused speaking to media, Shukla said: "We have no issues what they say to media. But the matter is, what they state before court."

Masood was killed Aug 16 last year when she was leaving her home in Bhopal to attend an anti-corruption campaign.