Rajasthan Police asked to report every second day on missing nurse

Jodhpur: It's been more than six weeks since Bhanwari Devi, a midwife and nurse, was last seen. The 36-year-old disappeared near Jodhpur amid reports that she had a CD that proved she was having an affair with a senior minister in the Rajasthan government.

Since then, the Rajasthan Police has been unable to track her down.  Her husband, Amarchand, believes the minister,  Mahipal Maderna is responsible for Bhanwari Devi's disappearance.  Mr Maderna has been accused of rape and murder - a local court ordered the police to investigate him for these charges.

The police has been faulted repeatedly in court for its lethargic inquiry.  An anonymous letter received last week by the Jodhpur police said that Bhanwari Devi was alive and was being held hostage in Haryana.  On Saturday, the police said that it had found a car in Gujarat which was used to kidnap the nurse.

This morning, the Rajasthan High Court ordered the police to officially provide an update every alternate day on its attempts to locate Bhanwari Devi.

The case of the missing nurse-and its alleged link to a minister-  has embarrassed the Congress which is in power in Rajasthan.