All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Jayalalithaa on Wednesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to ascertain whether the death of Sadhick Batcha, an associate of former Union Communications Minister A. Raja, was a case of “murder or forced suicide.”
Suspecting foul play, she said in a statement here: “If there is any reluctance on the part of the CBI, then both the Supreme Court and Joint Parliamentary Committee should step in and issue the necessary directives.”
She expressed apprehension that a similar fate could await other key witnesses in the 2G scam investigations, particularly if they were from Tamil Nadu.
“If the CBI and the Supreme Court are really keen on unearthing the whole truth behind this colossal scam, it will be better to keep all such witnesses under CBI or judicial custody till the investigations are over.”
She demanded that Mr. Raja, who is in judicial custody, be provided protective cover.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Committee urged the CBI to conduct a detailed investigation into the death of Batcha as it raised several questions.
CPI (M) State Secretary G. Ramakrishnan said the CBI should unearth the real cause of his death and take steps to ensure that the accused in 2G spectrum case did not use this as an opportunity to escape.
The Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, a constituent of the AIADMK front, urged the Supreme Court to set up a special investigating team to probe the death as the public would not believe that it was suicide.
