BHOPAL: A court in Bhopal on Saturday sent Samarth Singh, husband of actor-model Twisha Sharma and an accused in her alleged dowry death case, to seven days of police remand till May 29.
Singh was produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Anudita Gupta by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Bhopal Police, less than 24 hours after he was taken into custody from the Jabalpur District Court premises following his failed attempt to surrender there. The court also ordered the seizure of his passport, which was submitted by his counsel.
A lawyer by profession and son of former judge and Bhopal Consumer Court chairperson Giribala Singh, Samarth had been absconding since the Katara Hills Police registered a dowry death and harassment case against him and his mother on May 15 in connection with Twisha Sharma’s death.
Unable to trace him, Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar had initially announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to his arrest, later increasing it to Rs 30,000. A lookout circular was also issued against him.
While Giribala Singh secured anticipatory bail from a Bhopal district court on May 15, Samarth’s plea for similar relief was rejected on May 18. He later moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking anticipatory bail but withdrew the plea on Friday. The High Court then allowed him to surrender either before the trial court in Bhopal or before the investigating officer in the state capital.
After remaining untraceable for over a week, Samarth appeared at the Jabalpur District Court on Friday afternoon and attempted to surrender there. However, the court directed him to surrender in Bhopal in line with the High Court’s order, following which police took him into custody from the court premises and brought him to Bhopal overnight.
Twisha Sharma, 33, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal’s Katara Hills area on May 12. Her family has accused her husband and mother-in-law of dowry harassment and abetment to suicide.
AIIMS-Delhi team to conduct second post-mortem
In another major development, a four-member team of forensic experts from AIIMS-Delhi arrived in Bhopal on Saturday evening in a special chartered aircraft arranged by the Madhya Pradesh government.
The medical board, constituted by the AIIMS-Delhi director, will interact with Twisha Sharma’s parents and brother regarding their objections to the first post-mortem report conducted at AIIMS-Bhopal on May 13.
The team from the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at AIIMS-Delhi will conduct a second post-mortem of Twisha’s body at AIIMS-Bhopal on Sunday. The experts are also expected to visit the alleged crime scene at Twisha’s matrimonial home in Bhopal for forensic examination and analysis.
On Friday, Twisha’s father Navnidhi Sharma had approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a second post-mortem. He alleged that the first autopsy report prepared by AIIMS-Bhopal was “incomplete, inadequate and unscientific” and requested that the re-post mortem be conducted either at AIIMS-Delhi or AIIMS-Jammu.
The High Court allowed the second autopsy but directed that it be conducted in Bhopal by doctors from AIIMS-Delhi. The court also instructed the AIIMS-Delhi director to constitute a medical team and ensure that the examination is completed at the earliest.
Likely focus areas during Samarth Singh’s police questioning
* Events that took place at Twisha’s matrimonial home on the evening and night of May 12.
* Possible reasons behind stress or disputes between Samarth and Twisha in recent weeks or months.
* Developments leading up to May 12.
* Recreation of the alleged crime scene with Samarth present.
* Details regarding his whereabouts while absconding for 7-8 days and individuals who may have sheltered him.