Thaindian News

Jodhpur, Sep 23 (IANS) A court here Friday ordered the police to include the name of Rajasthan’s Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderna as an accused in the FIR lodged in the disappearance of a nurse who allegedly featured in a compromising position with the minister on a CD.

Amarchand, husband of the auxiliary nurse and midwife Bhanwari Devi, had approached the civil court in Jodhpur’s Bilada town Tuesday accusing the minister of raping and murdering Bhanwari Devi.

“The ACJM (additional chief judicial magistrate) court has directed police to include the minister as an accused and probe his role under sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code),” said Amarchand’s lawyer Paras Chauhan.

The lawyer said that when Amarchand approached police after his wife’s disappearance, changes were made in his complaint. “They left out Maderna’s name and first lodged just a missing person complaint,” he said.

On Thursday, the Rajasthan High Court had lambasted the investigating officer in the case and expressed dissatisfaction over the pace of investigations conducted by the police.

The court asked the inspector general of police, Jodhpur range, to appear before it in person Monday and submit an explanation for the “disappointing pace” of the investigation.

Amarchand, who has threatened self-immolation, said he had to approach the court as police have failed to find Bhanwari Devi, almost a month after she was reported missing.

Bhanwari Devi’s son Sahil also alleged Thursday that the minister was involved in his mother’s kidnapping.

“There is threat to our lives also,” Sahil told IANS while staging a sit-in outside the Jodhpur district collector’s office along with activists of some NGOs.

Police have so far arrested a government contractor from Jodhpur’s Bilada area. They had also detained three youths from Sikar district, but let them off due to lack of evidence.

During interrogation, the name of Shahbuddin, a resident of Pipad area here and a mechanic by profession, also came up. He is suspected to be the key link who can lead the police to the woman, but he has not yet been traced, an officer said.

The Rajasthan government has also ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.

Bhanwari Devi has remained absent from duty since Aug 25. A missing person complaint was lodged by her husband the next day. The complaint was then turned into a kidnapping case.

Maderna, the son of prominent Jat community leader Parasram Maderna, represents Osian constituency of Jodhpur in the state assembly.