Bhanwari case: CBI quizzes arrested legislator's mother

Jaipur (CNST): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday quizzed a Congress legislator's mother and some of his other
relatives in the disappearance of Rajasthan government nurse Bhanwari
Devi, sources said.
They were quizzed as the CBI wanted to get a clue about the whereabouts of Indra Bishnoi, sister of arrested Congress legislator Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, the sources said. Indra, a prime suspect in the case is absconding,
while Malkhan has been arrested by the agency for his alleged role in
the nurse's disappearance.
"Malkhan's mother Amari Devi Bishnoi was quizzed for about two hours at the Circuit House in Jodhpur," sources close to the CBI said.
Sources said that CBI also summoned some other relatives of the legislator including his daughters-in-law.
"Indra Bishnoi is the only prime
suspect absconding in the case. The Investigators are trying to trace
her location for the past two and a half months," said sources.
Amari Bishnoi is the wife of late Ram Singh Bishnoi, a prominent leader of Bishnoi community in Rajasthan. He had been a cabinet minister also.
Meanwhile, the judicial custody of former minister Mahipal Maderna and seven other accused was extended till Feb 14 by a court here Tuesday.
"Maderna and seven others including nurse's husband Amarchand, Sahiram, Umesharam, Kailash Jakhar, Bishnaram, Omprakash and Ashok Bishnoi were produced in the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate
here which extended their custody till Feb 14," said a police official.
It is alleged that three men
Shahabuddin, Sohan Lal and Baldev Jat alias Balia kidnapped Bhanwari
from Bilara in Jodhpur rural Sep 1, killed her and then handed over her
body to a gang of criminals headed by Bishnaram Bishnoi who burnt her to ashes and dumped her remains in a canal.
Bishnaram Bishnoi and his three accomplices, including Kailash Bishnoi, Omprakash Bishnoi and Umesharam Bishnoi, have also been arrested by the CBI.
Bhanwari Devi, shown in a compromising position with Maderna in a CD, had gone missing Sep 1 last year.
According to sources close to the
CBI, Maderna and Malkhan Singh were hand-in-glove in the entire
conspiracy as the nurse was blackmailing both of them. Maderna was
believed to be blackmailed on the basis of a CD showing him in a
compromising position with the nurse.
The two politicians allegedly
roped in Sahiram Bishnoi, who hired Sohan Lal, Balia and Shahabuddin for the task of kidnapping the nurse. Amarchand was also arrested on
suspicion over his involvement in his wife's disappearance.

IANS