Talking to mediapersons at his residence Wednesday, Chouhan also announced a reward of Rs one lakh to anybody giving clues leading to arrest of Shehla’s murderer.
An RTI activist, Shehla Masood was murdered on August 16 while she was proceeding to attend an India Against Corruption rally in Bhopal. She was shot dead by an anonymous assailant from pointblank range in her Santro car when she was still sitting in the driver’s seat.
So far, the Bhopal police are clueless even after quizzing more than 50 people including an IPS officer posted in Indore, a sitting BJP MLA from Bhopal, RTI activists, social workers, a host of media persons and family members.
A senior police official involved in the investigations told TOI, "So far the investigations are based on the call details of Shehla’s two mobile phones. We have found an important witness and are trying to get information from him." However, he refused to disclose identity of witness.
Police have also scanned details of several RTI applications filed by Shehla, her laptop and also a large number of documents seized from her MP Nagar office. However, the police are silent over why a BJP MP, who had been interacting with the RTI activist on a regular basis, has not been quizzed so far.
Shehla’s family had named some suspects among whom were people related to a mining company involved in a project in a Bundelkhand district. Shehla was vociferously demanding details of the project and objecting over it., saying that the project was harming the environment of the region, her family told police.
Till August 30, the CBI had not got the recommendation of the state government. Home department confirmed the request was made on Aug 19. The file may not have reached the CBI headquarters because of a procedural delay.