The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the state government to explain how one of the accused in the September 2005 murder of Jalgaon Congressman Vishram Patil, in which President Pratibha Patil's brother Vishram Patil is also allegedly involved, died in custody.

The court had asked the police to explain how the same accused gave an interview to a TV channel while in custody. Additional public prosecutor Aruna Kamat-Pai told the court that Mali had given the interview while he was in the hospital, without permission from the jail authorities. Pai said that the constables in-charge were suspended and denied two increments.

Vishram Patil's wife Rajni had moved court seeking to make G N Patil (Jalgaon district Congress leader and brother of President Pratibha Patil) an accused in the case. Police arrested Raju Mali and Raju Sonawane for the murder, but Rajni said that GN Patil was the kingpin in the case, but was not arrested because of his political clout.

Raju Mali succumbed to AIDS and a pulmonary infection while in custody. The court was informed that he had died in the hospital.

DNACorrespondent/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication