Opposition parties on Saturday sought an investigation into the death of Confident Group chairperson CJ Roy, saying that the facts behind the incident should be brought to light, PTI reported.
Roy, who was from Kerala, allegedly shot himself dead on Friday afternoon at the office of his real estate company in Bengaluru allegedly during an income tax raid, the news agency quoted unidentified police officers as saying.
His brother, Babu CJ, claimed that pressure because of the raids may have forced Roy to die by suicide, The Hindu reported.
“IT sleuths came to my house as well on January 22 and asked for a lot of documents, which I gave,” the newspaper quoted Babu as saying. “But the raids put my brother under stress. But when I spoke to him at 11 am, Friday morning, he sounded normal. I don’t know what they asked him and what pushed him over the brink.”
On Saturday, MV Govindan, the state secretary of Kerala’s ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), asked why central agencies had been unable to act in a more humane manner when carrying out raids and during their other activities, PTI reported.
The raid on Roy’s office continued even after his death, the news agency quoted Govindan as having claimed.
CPI(M) leader and Rajya Sabha MP AA Rahim also said that an investigation should be conducted into whether Roy was a victim of alleged pressure tactics allegedly used by central agencies.
Congress MLA VD Satheesan, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said that there was a “mystery” behind the death of the businessman and sought an investigation into the matter.
“It is not clear what kind of harassment he faced at the hands of the IT officials,” PTI quoted him as saying.
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