Thaindian News

Jodhpur, Oct 30 (IANS) A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team searched the house of a key suspect in the disappearance of nurse Bhanwari Devi, who allegedly figures on a CD in a comprising position with a minister who has now been sacked, and quizzed his relatives, officials said Sunday.

“Shahabuddin had been taken to New Delhi for interrogation after a court remanded him to police custody last week. The agency has got many leads after the interrogation. He has been brought back as he is to be produced before a court Monday after completion of his remand period,” a police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told IANS.

Bhanwari Devi, who allegedly features in a CD with former water resources minister Mahipal Maderna, has been missing since Sep 1. Maderna was sacked from the cabinet by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Oct 16 over the allegations of his involvement in her kidnapping.

Sources said that CBI is trying to recover the alleged CD and had raided Shahabuddin’s house in its search.

“The CBI is trying to recover the alleged CD. The local police had failed to get it while they investigated the case before CBI took it over,” the police officer said.

A resident of Pipad area here in Rajasthan and a mechanic by profession, Shahbuddin surrendered in a CBI special court on September 22.

The agency has also some computer hard disks belonging to producers of folk music in Rajasthan for forensic examination in the case.

The hard disks have been sent to Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in New Delhi, the officer said.

The CBI has stumbled upon clues suggesting that Bhanwari Devi was blackmailing some politicians in Rajasthan on the basis of CDs which showed them in compromising positions with her.

The agency had recently quizzed some producers of Rajasthani folk music albums here in connection with the nurse’s disappearance. It picked up some producers with whom Bhanwari had worked as an artist on albums.

“After the key suspect, Shahabuddin, surrendered in a court last week, the main focus of the CBI was to recover the CD. The agency officers have quizzed some people who had earlier claimed that there is such a CD,” said a police officer.

The CBI has launched a massive hunt for the alleged mastermind of the crime Sahi Ram Vishnoi, a small time politician in Jodhpur district who was close to Maderna. CBI teams have been rushed to various places in the country to search for him.

Shahabuddin is accused of working under the instructions of Vishnoi.

Police have already arrested two people - Sohan Lal Vishnoi and Baldev Jaat alias Balia - in the case.

Maderana was among those named in a first information report (FIR) after Bhanwari Devi remained absent from duty from Aug 25, confined herself to her home for a few days and then vanished without trace on Sep 1.