NDMC officer's murder: Police gives clean chit to BJP leaders; AAP demands arrest

The Delhi police have punctured Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s allegations against Delhi L-G Najeeb Jung of shielding two BJP leaders in the murder case of New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) legal officer MM Khan. This has come as a temporary relief for the L-G, against whom the Delhi CM had earlier levelled charges of bribery and corruption. The police have also given a clean chit to the two BJP leaders. “As per our investigation, nothing has come up. There is no link between the BJP leaders and the murder of MM Khan. The allegation made against them is not correct,” Delhi police said in a media conference in New Delhi on Thursday. The controversy related to Kejriwal blaming the L-G of shielding the BJP MP Mahesh Girri and NDMC vice chairman Karan Singh Tanwar emerged from a letter written by the Delhi CM to the L-G. Highlights of Kejriwal’s letter to Jung: -The letter accuses the L-G of shielding BJP MP Mahesh Girri and NDMC vice chairman Karan Singh Tanwar. -Kejriwal has told Jung that he has heard that PM Modi is happy with him. -Kejriwal alleged that the L-G didn’t let police question them (Girri and Tanwar). -He accused him of using the Delhi police to save them, as it works under the Centre. -The AAP supremo alleged that he would falsely implicate leaders from his party. [caption id=“attachment_2838902” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Najeeb Jung and Arvind Kejriwal. File photo[/caption] What the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said: Holding back-to-back press conferences on Thursday afternoon, AAP lashed out at the BJP alleging that the latter has links with the murder of Khan. The party has demanded immediate arrest of Tanwar. AAP leader Dilip Pandey asked, “Why were the BJP leaders not quizzed? If Karan Singh Tanwar is not arrested, we’ll believe that the BJP is guilty of Khan’s murder.” The case: MM Khan, reportedly known as an honest and upright officer in the NDMC was murdered near his residence at Jamia Nagar allegedly by hired killers on 16 May. Khan was in charge of a Rs 140 crore recovery case related to a hotel at Connaught Place. After the police arrested seven people allegedly involved in the murder, it was revealed that the owner of Connaught Hotel, Ramesh Kakkar hired killers to eliminate Khan. The reason, as told by the police, was that Kakkar was unwilling to pay the dues (licensing fees) to NDMC. Khan was murdered a day before he was scheduled to pass the final order on the hotel lease terms. Last year in February, the hotel had been sealed by the NDMC on grounds that licence fees amounting to Rs 140 crore had not been paid to the council. It had been de-sealed after the matter reached the High Court. Khan had been appointed as the estate officer to look into the matter. The investigation had further revealed that the accused Kakkar wrote to the L-G six days before Khan was murdered alleging that Khan was acting in an arbitrary, unjust and biased manner. Prior to this, Tanwar too complained to Jung on similar lines. Khan’s murder highlighted the deep-rooted corruption within the NDMC. One of the country’s biggest civic bodies, there had been allegations of corruption against NDMC, including corruption in the construction of buildings during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The AAP had also demanded the sacking of NDMC mayor Ravinder Gupta in an alleged bribery case, claiming that Gupta demanded cash from a builder. NDMC vice-chairman counters: Karan Singh Tanwar told a news channel: “I have been an eyesore for Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP since I got appointed as vice-chairman of the NDMC. Kejriwal and his MLAs openly called me a “murderer”. Kejriwal is mentally sick and has been levelling allegations even against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He needs treatment. I’m planning to file defamation case.” AAP’s stand: The Kejriwal-Jung row over Khan’s murder is likely to escalate, as the AAP has decided to take the BJP leaders head on. “It’s clear that the BJP is hand-in-gloves with the culprits. The L-G is supporting them. We’ll go to the roots of the matter and won’t let the accused go scot-free,” an AAP leader said.