Jodhpur:
The Bhanwari Devi case is turning murkier by the day with her husband now firmly under the scanner over her alleged abduction and murder. Amarchand Nat was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday for not cooperating with investigations into the mysterious disappearance of his wife, thus giving an entirely new turn to the case. The CBI is now planning to cross-examine him along with sacked Rajasthan minister and prime suspect in the case, Mahipal Maderna.
As the sudden turn of events has taken several by surprise, there is curiosity over how the needle of suspicion began to be pointed towards Amarchand Nat. For, it was he who had had earlier cried foul over his wife, Bhanwari's disappearance, alleging that she had been abducted at the behest of Mr Maderna. Bhanwari, an auxiliary midwife-nurse, had gone missing on September 1.
The CBI, who was awarded Amarchand's custody yesterday for five days, has said in court that the latter is not cooperating with the probe. His constant flip-flops over the sequence of events into Bhanwari's disappearance also raised suspicion, the CBI told the court.
The probe agency's doubts seemed to have grown stronger after Amarchand Nat allegedly attempted to escape from the CBI questioning centre in Jodhpur on Wednesday, when confronted with some disturbing questions by the officials regarding the case of his wife's alleged abduction. He was subsequently arrested.
Amarchand, incidentally, was present at Pipda on September 1, the day Bhanwari went missing. Even as he claims that he went there to get his car repaired, sources say that the CBI found that there was nothing wrong with his car.
The CBI is probing whether Amarchand deliberately sent Bhanwari by bus to meet Sohanlal, another accused in the case, and thus abetted her abduction. Sohanlal, along with Shahabuddin and Balia, figures in the first chargesheet that was filed by the CBI in connection with the case. The chargesheet that was filed in the Rajasthan High Court also named Mr Maderna.
Amarchand, meanwhile, has claimed that he is being tortured by the CBI into making false admissions.
The CBI has been investigating whether Bhanwari Devi tried to blackmail Mr Maderna for money, threatening to make their relationship public. A CD allegedly showing the two surfaced after she went missing from Bilada near Jodhpur on September 1.
The agency reportedly believes that the auxiliary nurse-midwife was not acting alone when the CD was made and she allegedly began blackmailing the former minister. Sources said that the CBI believes somebody "professional" was negotiating on her behalf.
During questioning by the CBI, the former minister reportedly confessed to having had a relationship with Bhanwari Devi. But he denied any role in her disappearance. Mr Maderna was arrested on December 2 after the CBI filed a chargesheet in the Rajasthan High Court. Parasram Bishnoi, the brother of Congress MLA from Luni, Malkhan Singh, was also arrested for his alleged involvement in the case.
During the investigations it has carried out since October, the CBI claims to have found the jewellery that Bhanwari Devi was wearing and the purse which she was carrying when she went missing. But it is still looking for forensic evidence establishing that she had indeed been killed.