Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal present a cheque to the daughters of slain NDMC official M.M. Khan during a function at Delhi Secretariat on Saturday. (Photo: PTI )
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal present a cheque to the daughters of slain NDMC official M.M. Khan during a function at Delhi Secretariat on Saturday. (Photo: PTI )
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday handed over compensation cheques of Rs 1 crore each to the families of slain NDMC officer M.M. Khan and NIA officer Tanzil Ahmed.
He paid floral tributes to Khan, NDMC estate officer, and Ahmed, NIA deputy superintendent of police (DSP), at a condolence meeting held at the Delhi Secretariat.
“We have heard stories of Tanzil Ahmed’s bravery in several cases. He sacrificed his life serving the country. On the other side, NDMC officer M.M. Khan was murdered for refusing to accept a bribe of Rs 3 crore.
“Khan was an honest officer and it is impossible to find such officers,” the chief minister told a gathering.
The solatium cheque was handed over to the daughters of Khan as per the policy of the Delhi government. Another cheque of same amount was given by the CM to Ahmed’s children who are studying in school.
Motorcycle-borne assailants had killed 45-year-old NIA officer Ahmed by pumping 24 bullets into his body and his wife Farzana Khatoon at a village in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh this April.
NDMC officer Khan was shot dead in May. The Delhi police has arrested a hotelier in connection with his murder.
Noting that the solatium amount was “nothing” compared to the bravery shown by the two officers and cannot compensate for the lives lost, Mr Kejriwal added that the relief mo-ney given by the government is a mark of respect for Khan and Ahmed.
“In view of the atmosphere of ‘corruption’ in the country today, he (Khan) could have taken the bribe owing to poor financial condition of his family, but he refused. I want to request you (family members of both Khan and Ahmed) to approach me if you face any difficulty. We will continue our fight to ensure justice to you,” he said.
AAP Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, who is also chairman of Delhi Waqf Board, requested Mr Kejriwal that the board be given permission to bear all expenditures on education of the three daughters of the NDMC officer and a daughter and a son of Ahmed.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party, headed by Mr Kejriwal, has been alleging involvement of BJP MP Maheish Girri and NDMC vice-chairman Karan Singh Tanwar in the murder of Khan.
Last month, Mr Girri, the East Delhi MP, had staged a sit-in outside Mr Kejriwal’s residence, calling for a debate with him over the allegations.
Meanwhile, criticising chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for handing over a compensation of Rs1 cro-re to the family members of slain National Investig-ating Agency (NIA) officer Tanzil Ahmed, Delhi BJP alleged that it was done in a bid to appease minorities.
Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said that it is very regrettable that the Kejriwal government is using grant of compensation for its political expansion. “Only two days ago we saw the Delhi government spending almost a crore of Urdu Academy money on roza iftar party instead of using it for the development of Urdu language and literature in the city and today we saw him misusing funds just for political expansion,” said Mr Upadhyay adding that the Kejriwal government was setting a wrong precedent.
“The family members of NDMC officer M.M. Khan were paid compensation today and the BJP fully supports it. But we fail to understand the payment of Rs 1 crore to slain police officer Tanzil Ahmed’s family. Because Mr Ahmed was a Central government employee and he was murdered in Uttar Pradesh in a private property dispute and not in course of his service,” he said.
