CBI files charge sheet in Bhanwari Devi case

Jodhpur, Dec 2: A charge sheet was today filed in a court here against three accused arrested in Bhanwari Devi disappearance case in which the CBI said it is probing the role of sacked Rajasthan Minister Mahipal Maderna.

In the charge sheet filed before Judge Jagdish Jyani, Shahbuddin, Baliya and Sohanlal have been charged with abduction with an intent to kill (Section 364 IPC), criminal conspiracy (120 B) and various sections of SC, ST Act in the case of 36-year-old Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) Bhanwari Devi, who went missing on September 1.

Maderna, who was once again called for questioning by the CBI today, has been named along with another absconding accused Sahiram in the charge sheet which says that investigations are pending against them.

The charge sheet, which was filed by CBI as the 90-day deadline following the arrest of the three accused was about to expire, sought permission for continuing the investigation in the case.

Bhanwari's husband Amar Chand had alleged that she was kidnapped at the behest of Mahipal Maderna, who denied the charge.

A CD allegedly showing Maderna in compromising position with Bhanwari had come to light after she went missing from Jodhpur's Bilara area.

Meanwhile, the agency called Congress MLA Malkahan Singh's brother Parasram Bishnoi along with Maderna for another round of questioning.

Maderna, who was sacked from Ashok Gehlot cabinet on October 16 after his name cropped up in the case, is a key suspect in the case.

Along with the duo, a few others including a Pali district based NGO head were grilled at circuit house, the CBI sources said.

The CBI has so far questioned several people including Malkhan Singh, his brother and sister, Mahipal Maderna's wife Leela Maderna and others.

PTI