Jaya expresses doubts over Batcha's death

AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa today expressed doubts over the mysterious death of Sadiq Batcha, a close aide of former Telecom Minister A Raja, asking whether it was murder or "forced suicide" and sought protective cover for the DMK leader now in judicial custody. "This is the issue that has to be ascer tained by the CBI. If there is any reluctance on the part of the CBI, then both the Supreme Court and the JPC should step in and issue the necessary directives," she said in a statement.
She said the death of Batcha under mysterious circumstances did not come as a surprise to people who knew the "DMK's style of internal justice."
A similar fate could await other key witnesses in the 2-G spectrum scam investigations, particularly if they were from Tamil Nadu, she said.
"If the CBI and the Supreme Court are really keen on unearthing the whole truth behind this colossal scam, it would be better to keep all such witnesses under CBI or judicial custody till the investigations are over," she said.
"A protective cover has to be provided to Raja, the main accused in the case. Otherwise he could also go the Sadiq Batcha way. After all, the main objective of the DMK is to keep the CBI from getting closer to the Karunanidhi family members in this case," she alleged.