Thaindian News

Jodhpur, Nov 25 (IANS) Sacked Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna was Friday quizzed here for about three hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over his alleged involvement in the disappearance of nurse Bhanwari Devi.

Maderna was called for questioning at CBI’s local office at 2 p.m. and left around 5 p.m. It was for the third time that the sacked minister who is facing charges of the nurse’s rape, kidnap and murder has been interrogated.

Earlier, Maderna had been quizzed twice Nov 10 and Nov 11. While the Congress legislator from Osian was being questioned Nov 10, some TV channels aired a CD allegedly showing him and the missing nurse in a compromising position.

Maderna then got himself admitted to the Mathura Das Mathur Hospital Nov 12 with a complaint of chest pain following which CBI could not quiz him immediately.

Bhanwari Devi had gone missing from Jodhpur’s Bilara area Sep 1. On Oct 16, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sacked Maderna from the cabinet over allegations that he had a role in her disappearance as she was blackmailing him on the basis of the CD.
Rajasthan’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party called for a transparent investigation into the case.

“This is an issue concerning all. Those who are responsible in this case should be rounded up,” added BJP’s Rajasthan unit president Arun Chaturvedi.

The CBI had also rushed a team to Rajasthan’s Ajmer city following reports that Bhanwari Devi had a bank locker there and the CD could be hidden there.

In one of the two audio clips that surfaced Nov 3-4, Bhanwari Devi was allegedly heard saying that a CD was hidden in a bank locker in Ajmer.