Goa leaders trying to Sabotage Isha Mantry Probe: Congress

Panaji, Jan 15 (IANS) Politicians have tried to sabotage the forensic investigation into the death of Bollywood designer Isha Mantry, who died of a suspected drug overdose at a dance music festival in Goa in December, the Congress said Thursday.

In a petition to Superintendent of Police (Anti-Narcotics Cell) Kartik Kashyap, Congress spokesperson Sunil Kawthankar demanded the arrest of those responsible for the security lacunae at the event, which eventually led to the death of 27-year-old Mantry, who was a costume designer for Priyanka Chopra-starrer "Mary Kom".

Mantry was among thousands of revellers at the EDM festival held on a Goa beach, where she fainted. She was taken to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

While the opposition Congress alleged that a drug overdose led to her death, police, quoting her friends, said she was under medication.

The post-mortem report has been kept reserved pending viscera examination.

The Congress Thursday demanded a "thorough investigation into interference by some politicians of the government including a minister and his staff into (the) preparation of the autopsy report" by examining the call records of the forensic doctors who were on duty at the time.

"The entire episode circles around drugs, mafia, police, officials, politicians and money laundering by some white collar businessmen," the party said.

The Congress also demanded that Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar be questioned for his insistence that drinking alcohol could have led to Mantry's death, even before the post-mortem examination was conducted.