Sadiq Batcha, Raja's aide allegedly commited suicide- A New twist in 2G scam case

47-year-old Sadiq Batcha, one of the accused in the 2G scam, aide of former Telecom Minister Raja, allegedly committed suicide on Wednesday, at his residence in Chennai. Batcha's wife said that he committed suicide “unable to cope with the pressure” of the probe in the case. Mr. Batcha was scheduled to fly to Delhi this afternoon for questioning by CBI.

Batcha, who was the MD of Greenhouse Promoters, a firm under the scanner of the CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the spectrum allocation scam, was said to have been 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 p.m. Soon, the two rushed him to Apollo Hospital where doctors declared him “brought dead".

“At about 1.20 p.m. Sadiq Batch was brought to Apollo Hospital by his wife Bhanu. Doctors declared him brought dead to the Apollo hospital. The family says he had hanged himself,” said Chennai Police Commissioner Rajendran to reporters.The body has been sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for post mortem, he said but declined to get into the issue whether it coule be a case of murder. “I won’t speculate on that,” he said when asked whether it could be a case of murder.

Ms. Bhanu, accompanied by a relative, drove to Teynampet police station in the evening and filed a complaint, the details of which were not released. Bhanu avoided the waiting media, a senior police official said on condition of anonymity that Ms. 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.

“He (Batcha) could not cope with the pressure of the probe,” the official said quoting from his wife’s statement.

“There has been no pressure from CBI on Batcha. He was cooperating with CBI. The development is unexpected but it will not affect the investigation in the ongoing 2G spectrum scam as all the evidence has already been recorded,” the CBI spokesperson said in New Delhi.

Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, who has moved courts for involving him in the probe into the spectrum scam, said he was not surprised by the development. “I would say that the Supreme Court has monitored the petitions we have filed which is rocking the whole capital. Therefore, it is an inevitable prospect. Some murders or suicides can take place,” he told reporters in Delhi. 

“It could very well be a murder. Perhaps, the man knew too much. He was scheduled to travel to Delhi today. Why should it happen to him. I do not not believe this,” said noted political analyst Cho Ramaswamy.

Mr. Batcha, came from Perambalur, place of Mr. Raja’s political activity, rose from modest origins to create assets worth several hundred crores of rupees within a short span of time. The CBI and Enforcement Agency had conducted searches at his official and residential premises. He was called for questioning four times since then. Both CBI and ED were probing the possibility of his firms acting as a front for the former minister. The agencies have questioned him earlier in connection with the case. He owned several other firms, and agencies are examining if his firms could have acted as a front for possible kickbacks in the scam, the sources said.

Coincidentally, Mr. Raja’s wife M.A. Parameswari, was a director of Green House Promoters. Mr. Raja’s other relatives are also reported to be associated with the firm.