Bhopal 18:The family of slain Right To Information (RTI) activist Shehla Masood accused the police on Wednesday of selling a suicide theory and demanded a CBI probe into her death. Unidentified miscreants shot Masood, in the neck, from a point-blank range on Tuesday morning when she was boarding her car outside her residence at the upscale Koh-e-Fiza locality.
Some police officers had suggested the injury resulting in Masood’s death might have been ‘self-inflicted’. Medico-Legal Institute director DS Badkur made a similar observation.
Her father Masood Sultan, 72, said he feared the police are trying to twist the case.
“If it was a case of suicide, where is the gun?” he asked, “There was no trace of gunpowder on her hands either.”
Sultan said his daughter seldom discussed her work but had lodged a complaint after receiving threats from a police officer.
“Masood had filed RTI applications against dozens of corrupt officials. It is convenient for the police to term it a suicide and close the investigation,” said a person close to the family.
“Her laptop, which might contain vital information on the corrupt officials, is in the possession of the police.”
Masood’s cousin Umar Sharif said the family was not satisfied with the pace of investigation and sought a CBI inquiry.
Meanwhile, Gujarat police have set up five teams to investigate the murder, a senior officer said on Wednesday even as the the opposition Congress has demanded transfer of the case to the CBI.