NEW DELHI, Aug 26, Reuter: Allegations of illicit sex and political muckraking are emerging in the Indian media as police investigate the murder of national badminton hero Syed Modi.
Modi’s widow, Amita, was freed on bail on Friday after being questioned for six days by detectives investigating who shot the 25 year old athlete on July 28 after a training session in the north Indian City of Lucknow.
The Press Trust of India news agency said Amita, 24, was ordered not to leave New Delhi, where she had been interrogated by detectives from the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Indian reporters have written that detectives investigating the Case have come out with a make believe story that Amita was having, an affair with family friend Sanjay Singh, once close to Prime Minister Rajiy Gandhi but now a leading opposition figure.
Amita has described the reports as “a cock and bull story” denying she had an affair with Singh and saying she did not believe he was behind her husband’s murder.
Singh’s said Amita was simply his best friend’s wife and also denied any sexual involvement.
He has accused Gandhi of trying to frame him because of his involvement with the Opposition Jan Morcha (People’s Front),
Sanjay is married to a niece of Vishwanath Pratap ‘Singh, founder of the Jan Morcha and seen in some quarters as the man who could oust Gandhi in a national election.
Sanjay is one of the Jan Morcha’s main supporters in Uttar Pradesh State, which elects 85 of the country’s 544 members of parliament.
Police searched Sanjay Singh’s home earlier this week but said they could not track him down to question him.
Sanjay surfaced in New Delhi on Tuesday and held a news conference to plead his innocence.
On Thursday he went to meet police interrogators in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh accompanied by India’s top opposition leaders in a cavalcade of 30 cars.
Sanjay is the son of the late Raja of Amethi and wields considerable influence in his father’s former principality.
Amethi is also Gandhi’s parliamentary constituency and Sanjay has pledged to use his influence to ensure that Prime Minister loses in general elections due by the end of 1989.
The government issued a statement denying the Modi investigation was being used for political purposes.
Modi, five times India’s National Badminton Champion and gold medalist atthe 1982 Commonwealth games, was shot at close range after his daily practice session.
Amita, one of India’s top Women badminton players who often joined her husband in his workouts, was not with him.
“They (the government) are after Sanjay because he is the strongman of Amethi. With elections round the corner this is the only way to tackle us,” declared opposition politician Anf Khan.
“After all the Prime Minister has to fight from Amethi. There is no safe seat left for him,” he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 2, 1988
