Mumbai: After Mumbai police charged actor Suraj Pancholi with abetting the alleged suicide of his actress girlfriend Jiah Khan, her mother today said she would move the Bombay High Court seeking reinvestigation from the angle of murder by a Special Investigating Team or CBI.
"We have no confidence in Mumbai police as it has ignored forensic evidence given to them to show that Jiah was killed and had not committed suicide. Their reports are inconclusive and tailor-made to benefit the accused," Rabiya Khan told a press conference, adding she would approach the high court soon for direction for a probe by either CBI or SIT.
Rabiya, a British passport holder, has also approached the US Ambassador to India requesting for assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the probe since her daughter was an American national.
Jiah (25), was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her Juhu home on June 3 last year. Rabiya has since been demanding a CBI probe into her daughter's death voicing strong suspicion that she was murdered.
Soon after Jiah's death, her mother had handed over a letter purportedly written by her which indicated she was in a troubled relationship with newbie actor Suraj Pancholi, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab.
Suraj, who is younger to Jiah, was arrested on the charge of abetting her suicide and later granted bail. However, the police had last week filed a 447-page charge sheet in an Andheri court accusing Suraj of abetting Jiah's suicide on the basis of evidence gathered during the investigation, which did not indicate it was a case of murder.
"There was no evidence to show that Jiah was killed. We have gone into the material given by her mother but have not found any evidence to support the theory that it was a case of murder," a senior Mumbai police officer said.
She also slammed the police for not having informed her about filing of the charge sheet which she came to know of from her lawyer and through media. Her lawyer Dinesh Tiwari referred to a Supreme Court judgement which says that the first informant in an FIR has a right to know about the filing of the charge sheet but they did not inform Rabiya despite her being one.
Rabiya said she had written to US Ambassador Nancy Powell seeking FBI assistance in the probe. According to a communication from the US authorities on behalf of the Ambassador, the FBI is prepared to lend a helping hand in the probe provided India agreed.
"We have reached out to the office of the US Legal Attache at the US Embassy in New Delhi. An FBI official in that office is willing to send a letter to the Indian Police Services to offer US technical and forensic assistance in the investigation of Nafisa's death. "While FBI cannot conduct unilateral investigations outside the United States, it can review your daughter's case in an advisory role if requested by Indian law enforcement," the letter said.
A subsequent communication from Rosemary Macray, Chief of the American Citizens Services Unit, dated today, said the Legal Attache at the US embassy had yesterday sent a request letter to the CBI whose response to the offer of partnering with the US agency in the probe was awaited.
