Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking a judicial inquiry into the “unnatural death” of businessman CJ Roy allegedly during an income tax raid at his office in Bengaluru on Friday, IANS reported.

Roy, who was from Kerala, allegedly shot himself dead on Friday afternoon at the office of his real estate company.

His brother, Babu CJ, claimed that pressure because of the raids may have forced Roy, the chairperson of the Confident Group, to die by suicide.

In his letter, Vijayan said that the death had shocked people and the business community, and described the incident as a “blot on the tax administration of the country”.

He said that income tax enforcement was guided by the Union government’s stated policy of Non-Intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable, under which intrusive action was expected to be rare and exercised with “extreme caution”.

Vijayan said that reports had suggested a “lack of required diligence” on part of income tax officials that had resulted in the loss of a human life.

He said that while it was inappropriate to comment on the merits of the search-and-seizure action at the moment, “prudent inferences” could be drawn from the information available in the public domain.

It was “quite surprising” that Roy was able to access a loaded firearm and shoot himself while an income tax search operation was underway at the same premises, Vijayan said.

The chief minister also said that the presence of the person under scrutiny was mandatory during the execution of a search-and-seizure warrant. However, Roy went to another room, retrieved his licensed gun and shot himself while the search was in progress, he quoted reports as having said.

This pointed to non-compliance with minimum essential protocol by income tax officials and was a “serious lapse”, Vijayan alleged.

He also referred to statements by Roy’s family, who have alleged that income tax officials had pursued the businessman relentlessly despite him having cooperated and submitted documents.

The chief minister noted that Roy’s brother had told reporters that officials kept returning and that Roy had said the “IT trouble was unbearable”.

The chief minister acknowledged that the Income Tax Department might have its own version of events and that tax evasion was a serious issue.

“It is felt that the whole truth about this incident has to come out through a credible analysis of the legal and administrative procedures to ensure a fair search operation, how this event could have been prevented had due diligence been exercised,” Vijayan said.

A judicial inquiry headed by a former judge of a constitutional court was necessary, he added.