[awagsFare]

Friday September 24, 2010

Businessman’s disappearance is hot news in India

By WANI MUTHIAH
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

CHENNAI: Several media organisations here are hotly pursuing the case of Indian millionaire A. Muthuraja’s disappearance in Malaysia. English daily The Deccan Chronicles’ special correspondent and head of its Chennai crime bureau V.P. Raghu said the story of Muthuraja’s disappearance would be kept alive until the truth is known. “This man is connected to the movie industry here and anyone with that kind of connection is hot news,” Raghu added.



Continuous effort: The police scuba unit searching for more clues at Kunci Air Pekan Banting Thursday.

He said the paper was also keen to know if the lawyer brothers linked to the murder of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya were also involved in Muthuraja’s disappearance. Sun TV’s special correspondent and crime desk chief Rama Selvaraj said his network was interested in the story because it had taken eight months before some form of information emerged about Muthuraja’s disappearance.

“The fact that he was a local millionaire and involved in the movie industry is another factor for us to go after the story,” he added. Rama said news reports were also treating the disappearance as a “warning” for other Indian businessmen with dealings in Malaysia to be extra careful about their safety. “We are all very disturbed that this has happened. We believe it could have been avoided,” he added.

Sun TV has been broadcasting daily news reports about Muthuraja, giving the subject ample coverage in its prime time news slots. Meanwhile, Tamil vernacular afternoon paper Malai Malar crime desk chief M. Ravi said Muthuraja was an important person and his disappearance was a big issue in Tamil Nadu. “We are sure our readers want to know what had happened,” he added. He said the drama which surrounded Muthuraja’s life and disappearance was also one of the factors why the newspaper was publishing the stories daily.