Jodhpur:
Missing nurse Bhanwari Devi's husband Amarchand Nat, who was arrested yesterday for not cooperating with investigations in the case, was today remanded to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for five days.
The CBI court hearing the case has also extended the custody of key accused in the case, former Rajasthan Minister Mahipal Maderna, till December 12.
Though the charge against Mr Nat is that of non-cooperation, sources said that the CBI had not ruled out his role in in his wife's disappearance.
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 Maderna. Sources said that the CBI believes somebody "professional" was negotiating on her behalf.
Mr Nat's arrest came after he allegedly attempted to escape from the CBI questioning centre in Jodhpur yesterday, when confronted with some disturbing questions by the sleuths regarding the case of his wife's alleged abduction.
After Bhanwari Devi went missing, Amarchand Nat had 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.
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.
(With PTI inputs)