Jaipur:
The CBI will continue to question former Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna over his alleged involvement in the sensational Bhanwari Devi case today. Sources said that after some hours of questioning on Thursday, the ex-minister had admitted to having had a relationship with the 36-year-old midwife and nurse, who has been missing since September.
The investigating agency has to give an update on its investigations to the Rajasthan High Court today. Sources said the CBI, after questioning the former minister yesterday, had a much clearer idea now of why Bhanwari Devi may have been abducted. It now has to piece together the puzzle of her disapperance. The auxiliary nurse-midwife went missing from Bilada near Jodhpur on September 1. Her husband, Amarchand Nat, has alleged that she was abducted at the behest of Mr Maderna and his associates, that she has been killed and that her body is still missing.
Mr Maderna, a key accused in the case, had so far denied that he had a relationship with Bhanwari Devi. But, sources said, when confronted by the CBI with statements made by the missing nurse's friends, he reportedly accepted that the two had had an affair. A missing CD allegedly shows the minister caught in a compromising position with Bhanwari Devi, and her friends who have turned witnesses, claim they have seen him on it.
The ex-minister, however, continues to deny that he had anything to do with Bhanwari Devi's disappearance. On the basis of several tapes and audio clips which it has reportedly recovered, the CBI, sources said, is investigating if Bhanwari Devi had blackmailed Mr Maderna for a huge sum of money, threatening to make their relationship public. The CBI has reportedly also questioned Mr Maderna over his alleged links with Shahabuddin and Sohan Lal Vishnoi, two men arrested in the case. They are said to have made several calls to Mr Maderna before Bhanwari Devi went missing.
Mr Maderna is being questioned at the Circuit House in Jodhpur, where the CBI team investigating the case is camping. Questioning spilled over to Friday as Mr Maderna complained that he was feeling ill due to high blood pressure yesterday. Sources said that the former minister had assured the CBI of full cooperation and that he had given "valuable information.''
The former Water Resources Minister's involvement in the case has caused huge embarrassment for Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. With his government under fire for Bhanwari Devi's disappearance, Mr Gehlot had sacked Mr Maderna from his Cabinet on October 16.
Mr Maderna had refuted all the charges levelled against him. But the Rajasthan High Court made some sharp observations over the shoddy probe into the case and a case of rape and murder was registered against him.
The CBI took over the case last month and is hoping for a breakthrough after questioning Mr Maderna. It had questioned the kin of a Rajasthan Congress MLA and a suspended policeman earlier this week. Three persons who had allegedly lured the nurse out of the house have been arrested. They have reportedly told the CBI that they handed Bhanwari Devi over to another gang.
The agency had recently seized a camcorder and a computer but data had been erased from them, CBI sources said. Officials suspect that the camera and computer might have been used to film and store footage which may have evidence relating to Bhanwari Devi's disappearance.
(With PTI inputs)