New Delhi:
The death of a National Conference worker in Jammu and Kashmir, after he was handed over to the police by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, continues to be a major controversy for Mr Abdullah.
The Supreme Court has asked the state government in Jammu and Kashmir to respond to a request for the CBI to investigate the death of Syed Yousuf Shah.
Mr Shah, who was 61, was summoned along with two other men by Mr Abdullah to his residence at the end of September. Mr Shah was accused by the two other men of taking huge amounts of money in exchange for promising them positions in the government. Mr Abdullah handed Mr Shah to the Crime Branch after the meeting. 12 hours later, Mr Shah was dead. A post-mortem has said he died of a heart attack. But the Opposition and Mr Shah's family allege that he was tortured and assaulted while in custody.
Abdul Salam Reshi, one of the two men who allegedly bribed Mr Shah, says he was told that Mr Abdullah's father, Farooq, was aware of the illicit deals he struck.
Mr Abdullah has said a judicial commission will investigate Mr Shah's death - which the Opposition has declared unacceptable.
The request for a CBI inquiry was filed in the Supreme Court by the Panthers Party, which alleges that Mr Shah's death was the result of a conspiracy between Mr Abdullah and the state police to destroy evidence that could have embarrassed the Chief Minister and his father. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) states that the CBI must be called in for an "impartial and independent probe into the entire chain of events leading to the secret meeting called by the Chief Minister at his residence on September 29."
The Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has refused Mr Abdullah's request to spare a serving judge to handle the inquiry.