\/\*is right, but don't put it in the character class ([...]) because it will catch / and * separately. Put it outside, for example something like:

# *** UNTESTED ***
if( ($row =~/^(?:[#;*\s+]|\/\*)?\s*version:?\s+(\d+\.\d+|)/i)
# *** UNTESTED ***
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Ciao!
--bronto

The very nature of Perl to be like natural language--inconsistant and full of dwim and special cases--makes it impossible to know it all without simply memorizing the documentation (which is not complete or totally correct anyway).
--John M. Dlugosz