Mumbai, Feb. 12: Suraiya’s life in the five decades since she retired had none of the drama that has followed her death on January 31.

Close on the heels of the mystery over the real heir, if any, to her large property, an old friend of Suraiya said she suspects foul play in the death of the singing star of the 1940s and 1950s. Hasina Shabbir said she had “noticed spots of blood on her face and injury marks on her legs”.

The claim comes even as Bombay High Court, taking cognisance of the increasingly bitter battle over Suraiya’s substantial property, directed Maharashtra administrator-general M.K. Patil to prepare a list of her movable and immovable properties by Monday.

Her property and vast collection of jewellery have been pegged by those who knew her closely at Rs 50 crore.

Hasina, who claimed to be an old friend of Suraiya’s, has demanded an inquiry into the circumstances leading to the star’s death. She said Suraiya’s properties should be given away to charity and alleged that those who looked after her over the last year had not allowed anyone to come near her. “There are many questions that have to be answered first,’’ Hasina said.

The court’s direction comes amid allegations that someone rummaged through Suraiya’s Krishna Mahal flat at Marine Drive and stole her jewellery.

It was alleged that one of the cupboards at the Marine Drive flat, which housed most of her jewellery, was open and empty when government authorities moved in to seal the house.

Elsewhere, claimants to Suraiya’s property are piling up. Four persons have laid claim to her bungalow in the hill resort of Lonavla, her flats in Worli and Marine Drive here and the unaccounted jewellery which she was renowned for collecting.

The first to make a dash for her property was her landlord Ashwin Shah. He was followed by Dhimant Thakar, Suraiya’s friend and attorney for the last 30 years. Thakar said he was like family to the singing star, adding that he had looked after her during the last six months of her life and even paid her medical bills.

In another twist, Thakar’s daughter, Amee Piyush Shah, has now said the actress had adopted her and bequeathed her the property in keeping with the Muslim law of hibba. Amee said in court that after hibba was invoked, she was given all of Suraiya’s movable and immovable properties just before her death.

The fourth player is Mehfooz Ahmed, a Pakistani citizen currently living in Saudi Arabia. Mehfooz says his father and Suraiya’s mother are siblings and that he lived in her Marine Drive flat for 17 years until 1963..

Reshma Estate Private Limited, the society that has charge of her flats in Worli, has also filed a claims petition. It says it has a right to the flats as Suraiya died without leaving a will.