Jaggi case accused's wife sends death wish mail to Prez

Raipur, May 27 (UNI) The wife of a man accused in the 2003 sensational slaying of then NCP Chhattisgarh unit Treasurer Ram Avtar Jaggi, has sought President A P J Abdul Kalam's permission to die.

Firoz Siddiqui was arrested by the CBI and is incarcerated in the Central Jail here.

''My husband was entrapped by CBI officers as he refused to furnish a false statement as witness. Hearings are continuing even in my husband's absence and a government counsel has been appointed to represent him even without his consent,'' Ms Swaleha Shaheen wrote.

Alleging that Siddiqui was being held without evidence for more than a year, Ms Shaheen added that even his bail plea was not heard while 13 other accused including Amit Jogi -- the son of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi -- Yahya Debar and Abhay Goyal were bailed out.

''My husband is our family's sole breadwinner and I have had to sell our furniture to keep the hearth warm. I am heavily in debt owing to my father-in-law's renal treatment expenses,'' she said.

UNI SM-AC RL PM1735