Acting on the directions of the Supreme Court, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday registered a case and began a probe into the death of Sadiq Batcha (38), a close aide of the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja, who has been chargesheeted in the 2G spectrum scam case.
Batcha had reportedly committed suicide at his house in Chennai on March 16.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to issue, within three days, a notification for transferring the probe to the CBI. Batcha's wife claimed that he committed suicide unable to cope with the pressure of the investigations into the 2G scam.
Batcha was managing director of Greenhouse Promoters which, the CBI and the ED suspected, was a front company of Mr. Raja.
Case registered
Chennai Special Correspondent writes:
In Chennai, the CBI's Special Crime Branch registered a case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of the Cr.PC.
According to CBI sources, a formal request was sent to the Chennai Police Commissioner to hand over documents in the case.
“We have received a formal request from the CBI to hand over documents in the case. The post mortem and other forensic reports are awaited. The special team investigating the case has so far enquired more than 50 persons. The calls made/received by Batcha on his mobile phone between March 1 and 16 were analysed,” a senior police official said.
The Chennai police had sent a note purportedly written by Batcha to the forensic laboratory to confirm his handwriting. Clothes worn by him at the time of his death were also sent for analysis as they contained some stains.
“Our enquiries revealed that Batcha had been depressed in the last few days ahead of his death,” the official said.
Published - April 05, 2011 06:31 pm IST
