'Maitra ruined our family'

NEW DELHI: “This had to happen!” was the startling reaction of Pravin Mahajan, the jailed assassin of his brother and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, when he was told about the death of Bibek Maitra. “It is Bibek, who is solely responsible for ruining our entire family. He has got what he deserved. This is retribution,” a well placed source in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail quoted Pravin as saying.

The remarks have added another twist to the saga, following Pramod Mahajan’s dramatic demise in April and the death here on Saturday of Pramod Mahajan’s aide Bibek Maitra and Monday’s arrest of son Rahul Mahajan on charges of consuming drugs.

Questions are now being asked in political circles, whether the wild party at Pramod Mahajan’s official bungalow was at all a case of drug overdose or perhaps a criminal conspiracy to eliminate those who knew too much.

Though investigators are piecing together the exact sequence of events on that fateful night, there is a strong possibility that the probe could take on another dimension, informed sources said. That Pravin Mahajan was upset with several close associates of his brother, who allegedly made a lot of money and held a grudge against Pramod, is public knowledge.

In one instance, he claimed that his brother was worth more than Rs 20bn and that Pramod Mahajan did not share his wealth with him. “With Rahul pulling back from his near-death encounter, the police, besides plugging the many loopholes in the case, could stumble on some explosive information that has so far been hidden from the public domain,” said a highly placed source.

Another mysterious angle to the investigation is why Sahil Zarru — who reportedly procured the drug and also had the same after-effects after consuming the “white powder” — came back to the Mahajan household after being treated for drug consumption.

Zarru, currently in police custody, was hospitalised at the Spring Meadows Hospital here, but he managed to come out of his stupor quickly.

“If he was a party to a crime, why would he come back to Mahajan’s house on Safdarjung Road only to find both Moitra and Rahul unconscious?” queried a senior investigating official.

According to sources, it will not be long before the police begin questioning some of Pramod Mahajan’s close associates, including businessman Sudhanshu Mittal, his additional private secretary Harish Sharma, as well as Ajay Singh, director of SpiceJet and Mahajan’s former officer on special duty (OSD).

“There are bound to be many unanswered questions in this investigation,” said a senior police official. For long, the market has been agog with reports of a growing rift between the airline director and Mahajan’s family, after the latter’s demise.

Incidentally, Ajay Singh, as OSD to Mahajan when he was minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, took a token Re 1 a month salary for his services. The mystery behind the sordid drama that nearly killed Rahul and caused the death of Moitra is just beginning to unravel.