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Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday announced a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the death of upcoming Telugu actress Pratyusha, who died under suspicious circumstances on February 24.
He said the government would entrust the case to the CBI in view of the "contradictory media reports, statements and rumours" that had kicked up a controversy over the death of the 20-year-old actress.
The chief minister refuted allegations voiced by the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and some other women's organisations hinting that the son of a state Cabinet minister was involved in the case.
Naidu said he was monitoring the investigations on day-to-day basis, and added that he had also spoken to Pratyusha's mother, Sarojini Devi.
Asserting that the variations in the post-mortem report from the Gandhi Hospital and the findings of the Forensic Science Laboratory had led to confusion, the chief minister said that he had appointed a three-member committee to go into the medical evidence, post-mortem report, FSL findings and the DNA test report to establish the cause of death.
He said that the police, which had earlier booked a case of suicide based on a complaint by Pratyusha's mother, had changed it to murder case. "The government is keen to establish the truth, whether it is suicide or murder. Even if it is suicide, whosoever is responsible for it will be brought to book. Pratyusha's boyfriend can be booked for abetment to suicide," he added.
The chief minister said that there was no question of anyone shielding the family of Siddharth Reddy, Pratyusha's boyfriend. The 22-year-old Reddy survived the suicide attempt and was recovering in CARE Hospital. Reddy hails from an agricultural family.
A metropolitan magistrate and an investigating officer recorded Reddy's statement in which he said the duo had soft drinks mixed with pesticide on the evening of February 23.
The police also examined and recorded the statements of 30 witnesses, including doctors at CARE hospital, during the course of investigations.
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