New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to hand over the viscera of Ashutosh Asthana, the prime accused as well as key witness in a corruption case, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for forensic examination at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
An apex court bench of Justice P.K. Jain, Justice V.S. Silfirturkar and Justice G.S. Singhvi also ordered an inquest by a judicial magistrate into the mysterious death of Asthana who died Saturday at a jail in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh.

Asthana was a key witness in the multi-million rupee provident fund scam now being probed by the CBI, and the bureau has said his death will me a major setback to the investigation.

Asthana was cremated on Sunday evening after a post-mortem examination. His viscera has been preserved.

The bench ordered the inquest report within eight weeks. It also demanded adequate protection for various witnesses in the case, some of whom are outside jail.