Ishmeet’s kin reiterate demand for a CBI probe

Family members of Star Voice of India 2007 winner Ishmeet Singh reiterated their demand for a CBI probe into the singer’s death with the assistance of Interpol thrown in.

The demand was raised by the family members who have just returned from Male, Maldives, after their investigations at the beach resort where Ishmeet died while swimming.

Leading the pack, Ishmeet’s uncle, Dr Charan Kamal Singh recounted his observation during the Maldives trip, at a press conference held today.

Dr Singh said that, “During our visit to Maldives from September 3 to 6, the family members met the Indian High Commission in Maldives, the police investigation team, officials and workers of the resort and the main organiser of the show for which Ishmeet had gone to the island nation.”

Picking holes in the eyewitness accounts of Vyom and Arunima, Dr Singh charged that not a single person - out of more than 250 odd employees of Chhaya Island Dhonveli Beach Rresort — had seen Ishmeet going or being at the swimming pool alive with them.

Dr Singh said, “Moreover, the statements given by both to the Indian High Commission and the police investigators are contradictory. While Vyom told the High Commission officials that he went along with Arunima and Ishmeet inside the pool whereas in his statement given to police investigators, he said, “I went to the resort’s swimming pool with Ishmeet”.

Similarly, said Dr Singh, the statements of Sanjit Shah of the Indian troupe and the local organiser, Hassan Ishan, in Maldives were also found to be contradictory.

Dr Singh also raised the issue of the head injury suffered by Ishmeet, which he claims remains unexplained. Dr Singh said, “Our main concern is how the injury was inflicted as neither the so-called eyewitness statement nor the preliminary investigations have been able to throw light on it,” he said.

The family also displayed an SMS which it claims is very strange and which Ishmeet had received it on July 22. The SMS says, “VOI bn ne ka itna ghamand mat kro ue jyada din tak tumhara nhi rhega (don’t be proud of being VOI so much won’t last long).” “Exactly a week after that Ishmeet was no more,” said Ishmeet’s uncle, raising another angle to the conspiracy theory.

Source: expressindia.com

Ishmeet's family leaves for Maldives

The bereaved family members of Ishmeet Singh, winner of Voice of India reality show, are alleging foul play in their son's death. His father Gurpinder Singh and uncle Charan Kamal Singh, a pathologist, are leaving on Wednesday to the Maldives to conduct a personal investigation.

Ishmeet, 19, died mysteriously in a swimming pool at a beach resort in Maldives July 29. He was there for an event.

Kamal Singh revealed that ADK hospital in Maldives where Ishmeet was taken from the resort said in its report that "drowning seems to be a secondary cause of death" in Ishmeet's case.

"If drowning was supposedly a secondary cause, then we would like to know the primary cause of his death," said Kamal Singh.

The late singer's family has been urging the central and the Punjab governments to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into his death. They are now heading to the Maldives on their own Wednesday to find the facts.

His family says the post-mortem and forensic laboratory reports state the reason of his death was drowning, but his body had severe injury marks on the forehead and temple.

"We want a proper enquiry from CBI. We are not against anyone nor are we pinpointing someone. Our visit to Maldives is in the knowledge of the Punjab chief minister, the prime minister and the Maldives government. We just want to know the reason for the injuries on Ishmeet's head," said Gurpinder Singh.

"If the investigation results are able to convince us about the injury, we will quit the matter then and there but till then we are not sitting quietly," added a bleary-eyed Gurpinder Singh.

Explaining the severity of injuries suffered by Ishmeet, Kamal Singh said: "The injuries on his head are being downplayed. Ishmeet suffered a hematoma that is a blood-filled cavity on the temple and a linear cut on the forehead. We are ready to believe that he died due to drowning as per the lab reports, but we just want to know the reason behind the injuries."

Kamal Singh also informed that Ishmeet suffered a blood flow out of his nose and mouth during drowning, which is not normal in drowning cases.

"When I contacted the pathologist, who conducted the post mortem in Ludhiana to find out about the same, we were told that the air sacs in his lungs burst so there was a blood flow out of the two possible outlets - nose and mouth.

"According to medical science, when a person drowns, his alveoi (air sacs or cavities) in the lungs get filled with water and expand and burst but do not allow any outlet for blood from either the nose or the mouth as the person dies of suffocation," he explained.

Source: music.ndtv.com

Ishmeet died of drowning, says report

Putting speculations of foul play in singing sensation Ishmeet Singh's death to rest, the four-member board of doctors of Government Medical College, Patiala, has concluded that he died of drowning and not due to head injury.

The viscera report after thorough investigations has been sent to the Ludhiana Civil Hospital for further action.

Ishmeet had drowned in a swimming pool in a hotel in Maldives on July 29 when he had gone there for an international event. After a post mortem by a panel of doctors, the viscera had been sent to Patiala to find the cause of death. His family had demanded a probe into Ishmeet's death.

After receiving the report, the Government Medical College authorities had constituted the board under Manjit Singh Bal, head of pathology department.

"During our investigations, we found fluid in his lungs and there was a minor external head injury, which couldn't have caused death," Bal told TOI.

The demand for a high-level probe had been gaining momentum and even chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to inquire into the matter.

Source: indiatimes.com

Badal writes to PM and seeks inquiry into Ishmeet's death

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to order an inquiry from an appropriate authority into the cause of death of the Ludhiana based budding singer Ishmeet Singh who died by drowning in the swimming pool of a resort in Maldives where he had gone to attend a function.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Badal mentioned that it had been reported in the media that many sections of public had raised apprehensions about the cause of death.

The Chief Minister also pointed out that he also attended Ishmeet's Bhog ceremony, where the mammoth gathering and his parents had requested him to get an inquiry conducted into the cause of death as they feared a foul play because of professional rivalry.

Badal reiterated that an inquiry into the cause of death by an appropriate authority should be got conducted so that the apprehensions and cobwebs are cleared in the minds of the public and the parents of the deceased.

It may be mentioned that Ishmeet Singh had won the Voice of India , a popular competition held by one of the television channels a few months back.

The entire nation was plunged into deep shock and grief over the death of young icon's passing away in the prime of his youth, an official release said here.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com