AAP to confer martyr status on slain official

: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that the Aam Aadmi Party-led (AAP) Delhi government had decided to confer the status of a martyr to New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) legal advisor Mohammed Moin Khan, who was murdered here last month.

Mr. Khan, one of the five estate officers with the NDMC, was shot dead by two scooty-borne men while he was parking his car at his home in Jamia Nagar on the evening of May 17, following which allegations of him being pressured to accept a substantial bribe from the owners of a prominent hotel in Central Delhi had emerged.

Accused being shielded?

Even as his family of four looked on from the seating gallery in the Delhi Assembly -- breaking down from time to time as Mr. Kejriwal hailed the slain official as a model untarnished government servant – the Chief Minister was the first to refer to Mr. Khan as “Shaheed” before questioning police investigation in the case and proceeding to allege that a person related to the murder was being shielded due to his “proximity” to a Union minister.

The Delhi Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution in favour of the conferment of the title of a martyr to Mr. Khan after observing two minutes’ silence, followed by Mr. Kejriwal informing the House that Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had already signed the file pertaining to the decision.

The government now, the Chief Minister announced, intended to hand over a cheque of Rs. 1 crore to Mr. Khan’s family at a ceremony on Tuesday.

“Had the police been with us, the killers would have reached the gallows but, unfortunately, the Delhi Police is not under our jurisdiction,” the Chief Minister said before requesting the Speaker to allow the constitution of a House Committee to probe the case independently.

“I’m not saying a particular individual who is connected to the case is guilty but at least call the person concerned for questioning; at least probe the case, get his call records for examination, since a CCTV footage related to the incident has already been deleted,” he further said.