Sari seller to realty baron

Sadiq Batcha had a meteoric rise, especially after A Raja was inducted into the UPA cabinet

Sari seller to realty baron

Sadiq Batcha had a meteoric rise, especially after A Raja was inducted into the UPA cabinet

The first question most people were asking after Sadiq Batcha's body was found hanging at his Chennai home was, "Has he left the CBI's 2G spectrum scam probe in limbo?" The investigating agency reacted quickly, saying that it was an "unexpected development" but maintained that it would not affect ongoing investigations.

"His demise is unexpected but will not affect the ongoing investigations in 2G spectrum scam as all evidence has already been recorded," the spokesperson said. The police claiming the death was a suicide has failed to scotch rumours of foul play. Opposition parties including the BJP and Left have demanded a thorough probe into the matter. That's because Batcha was said to be a key witness in the case. His death comes at a crucial time when the CBI is planning to file a charge sheet against Raja by March 31 in the Supreme Court.u00a0

Batcha was the Managing Director of Green House, a real estate company, which came under the CBI scanner for reportedly serving as a front for Raja, who was arrested in February and is currently lodged in Central Jail Tihar here for his alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam.

CBI had searched the residence and offices of Batcha on December 15, 2010. "There was no pressure from CBI on Sadiq Batcha. He was cooperating with the Bureau and was last questioned in February 2011 in Delhi," a CBI spokesperson said.

Foul play?
A few minutes after the news broke out yesterday, Police Commissioner of Chennai, T Rajendran held a press conference and said, "He was brought dead to the Apollo Hospital at about 1.30 pm. The family says he hanged himself. Police is yet to verify anything. We are investigating."

Hospital sources said the body would be taken to a government hospital for post-mortem. Both CBI and ED were probing the possibility of Batcha's firms acting as a front for the former minister. Both the agencies have questioned him earlier in connection with the case.

Sources, meanwhile, said that Batcha was probably going to be arrested sometime soon in connection with the scam. In fact there were also reports that he had to board a flight to Delhi on Wednesday morning for another questioning session by the CBI in Delhi. "This has raised eyebrows of everyone who has any interest in the probe of the scam and everyone is now looking at it from the angle of foul play, which has not been ruled out yet by the Chennai police," sources said.

CBI probe needed
"A CBI probe is necessary to ascertain the reason of sudden death of one of the chief operators of 2G scam," BJP's national spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters in Guwahati. "Although we will like to comment after the post mortem report is published, the government should probe into the death," he said.

Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, a petitioner in the 2G spectrum case, sought a CBI inquiry into the death. "The CBI should look into Batcha's death. After all, he was under their scanner," Swamy told reporters in Delhi. Forty-seven-year-old Batcha was reportedly found hanging from the roof of the bedroom of his house in Vannia Teynampet in south Chennai by his wife and his driver around 1 pm.

Chennai Police Commissioner Rajendran also said that he didn't want to comment on the murder angle. "I won't speculate on that," he said. Banu, Batcha's wife accompanied by a relative, drove to Teynampet police station in the evening and filed a complaint, the details of which have not been released. While she avoided the waiting media in Chennai, a senior police official said on condition of anonymity that Bhanu said in her complaint that she and her driver had seen Batcha's body hanging from the roof in the bedroom of their house.

(With inputs from Amit Kumar, Mohit Sharma, B V Shiva Shankar and Ramesh Kanteerava)

Who was Sadiq Batcha?
Sadiq Batcha was considered a key link to the 2G tangle as he could have provided the investigating agencies with vital clues linking former telecom minister A Raja to the scam. Batcha hailed from Raja's constituency Perambalur in south Tamil Nadu and was accused along with Shahid Balwa of DB Realty of making investments for the DMK MP in real estate.

A small time sari-seller, Batcha was introduced to Raja in the late 1990s and he currently headed several real estate firms. He was the promoter of Chennai-based real estate company Greenhouse Promoters Private Limited, which was formed barely four months after Raja became a cabinet minister.

Batcha was under the CBI scanner for routing money to Swan Telecom, an alleged beneficiary of 2G scam. Balwa had reportedly admitted to having known him. Batcha became one of Raja's trusted associates and he stood by the former minister even when he lost the election in 1998.

Batcha wanted to turn approver?
Sadiq Batcha, MD of Green House Promoters Pvt Ltd, was to appear before the CBI for questioning on Wednesday, and sources close to his family have said he had expressed willingness to be an approver, on Tuesday night. "While he had already given some information to the CBI, he had some crucial evidence with him that would definitely have put some important people into trouble," said the source. "He was fed up with the recent developments and wanted to come out of it once for all."

In the suicide note recovered, Batcha has said Raja and his wife are innocent and no one was responsible for his extreme step, while he was tired of the inquiries and questionings. A police officer, who is part of the investigations, said, "It is interesting to note that the suicide note particularly mentions Raja and his wife. The note is written as if the torturous inquiry had pushed him to commit suicide, and I think this is an important point upon which our investigation is focusing on."

Shakeel Ahmed, Chennai's additional commissioner of police, did not rule out the possibility of a foul play in the incident. "We are examining the case from all possible angles and we can corroborate the circumstantial evidence with the case once we get the forensic and post-mortem reports."

Family sources said Batcha came home late on Tuesday night and he was talking to them past midnight. He seemed in control of his emotions and showed no signs of panic or distress. Of course, he was not happy that he had to appear before the CBI the following day.

His wife Rehana Banu said he was normal in the morning before she left to bring their kid from school. "I returned home from school around 12 noon. Our bedroom door was locked from the inside and I finally opened it with the help of the neighbours.u00a0 I was shocked to see him hanging. We rushed him to Apollo Hospital and they said he was brought dead."