BJP MP ends hunger strike on Rajnath Singh's 'persuasion'

Home Minister persuaded Maheish Girri 'not to put his life at stake'

Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha member from East Delhi Maheish Girri on Tuesday broke his fast-unto-death outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence here.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday evening reached the Civil Lines where Girri was sitting on a hunger strike and persuaded Girri "not to put his life at stake".

Girri was protesting outside Kejriwal's residence since Sunday after the latter declined to join an open debate over his accusation that the BJP MP was involved in the murder of a New Delhi Municipal Council estate officer M M Khan.

The Home Minister offered Girri a glass of juice, which he drank to break his two-day fast.

Khan was shot dead in Jamia Nagar here on May 16 – a day before he was expected to pass an order on the terms of the lease of The Connaught, a four-star hotel.

Kejriwal had reiterated his demand for the arrest of Girri and urged the Delhi Police to probe the relationship between Girri and hotelier Ramesh Kakkar, who ran The Connaught and is the main accused in Khan's murder case.