This Article is From Apr 30, 2009

Ambani witness dead: Reliance officials to be questioned

Ambani witness dead: Reliance officials to be questioned
Mumbai:

The Anil Ambani chopper sabotage case has taken a dramatic turn after a key witness was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Mumbai. His body was found on the railway tracks.

The police say he committed suicide, but the family alleges foul play. Preliminary post mortem report suggests death due to impact of the train.

Now, the Mumbai Crime Branch will summon the Reliance officials who had met this man a few days back. He had mentioned them in a letter found on him.

Bharat Bhorge, one of the technicians responsible for the maintenance of Anil Ambani's chopper, had discovered pebbles in the gearbox of Ambani's chopper last Thursday.

The mysterious death comes a week after the Anil Ambani group alleged there was a conspiracy by business rivals to kill him. The police say they found the Bhorge's body along the railways tracks in suburban Vile Parle along with a note in his pocket, where he claims he may be framed in the case, but rule out any foul play.

The mysterious death of Bhorge has raised questions on whether it was a suicide or something more. Bhorge was one of the two airworks technicians, who discovered pebbles in the gearbox of Ambani's chopper.

The handwritten note, addressed to a crime branch officer, says, "I have done nothing wrong. Yesterday after you left people from Reliance came and were questioning me. They asked me but I did not tell them anything. I wanted to tell you last night I did not as I felt it would go against me. You are doing the investigation and the truth will come out."

Based on eyewitness accounts the police is ruling out foul play.

"We have two eyewitnesses and based on their statements, we can say that it was a suicide," said Maharashtra Home Minister Jayant Patil.

But Bhorge's relatives are demanding an enquiry.

"Given the circumstances of the death, there is some doubt and therefore we want the police to investigate," said Bhorge's cousin Sambhaji Botre.

Bhorge's death has added to the conspiracy theory floated by the Anil Ambani group - one that the Mumbai cops are doing its best to dispel.

Ambanis withdraw contract

As an immediate fallout of the sabotage mystery, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has withdrawn its contract with aircraft maintenance company - Airworks, which was looking after the Ambani aircraft.

Bharat Bhorge the technician who was found dead near the railway track was in fact an employee of this company.

.