JODHPUR: A court here Thursday remanded Bishnaram Bishnoi and Kailash Jakhar, two suspects arrested in connection with the disappearance of nurse Bhanwari Devi, to CBI custody till Jan 16, an official said. Top CBI officials have also reached the Rajasthan city.
Bishnaram Bishnoi, the leader of a gang suspected to have disposed Bhanwari Devi's body, was arrested near Pune in Maharashtra Wednesday while Kailash Jakhar, believed to be the owner of a jeep used to dispose the body, was nabbed in Rajasthan Tuesday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had announced a cash reward of Rs.5 lakh for Bishnaram's arrest.
Both were presented in the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate, who remanded them to CBI custody till Jan 16.
"They will be quizzed during this period by the CBI for further information on how the nurse's body was disposed," sources said.
Bishnaram was brought to Jodhpur from Pune Thursday morning.
CBI director A.P. Singh and other officers of the agency also arrived here. The CBI investigators had Wednesday identified the spot where the nurse's body was allegedly disposed after her abduction Sep 1.
CBI joint director Salim Ali, assistant director R.P. Agrawal and a team of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory also reached Jodhpur.
Some of officials, including Salim Ali, went to the spot near Jaloda village where the nurse's body was said to have been burnt after her killing. The ashes and bones were thrown into a nearby canal.
The forensic team has collected some ashes believed to be remains of the nurse's body, sources added. The canal was also being checked by divers.
The CBI chief inspected the evidence related to the case at the Jodhpur Circuit House, sources said.
The CBI had taken Omprakash Bishnoi, an arrested accused, to a place near Jaloda village where the nurse's body was reportedly burnt.
"Omprakash Bishnoi told the agency that the remains of her body were dumped into a canal near the village," sources told IANS. Omprakash is the brother of Bishnaram Bishnoi.
The case has seen the arrest of former Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna and Congress legislator from Luni constituency Malkhan Singh.
In a charge sheet filed earlier by the CBI, it was alleged that three men kidnapped the nurse from Jodhpur's Bilara area Sep 1, killed her and then handed over her body to a gang of criminals headed by Bishnaram Bishnoi.
According to sources close to the CBI, sacked minister Maderna and Congress legislator Malkhan Singh were hand-in-glove in the entire conspiracy as the nurse was blackmailing both of them.
Maderna was believed to be blackmailed on the basis of a CD showing him in a compromising position with the nurse.
The two politicians allegedly roped in Sahiram Bishnoi, who hired Sohan Lal, Balia and Shahabuddin for the task of kidnapping the nurse.
Maderna, Malkhan, the three kidnappers and Sahiram along with Amarchand, husband of Bhanwari Devi, have been arrested by the CBI. Amarchand is at present in judicial custody.
The CBI also arrested Malkhan's brother Parasram Bishnoi as well as two others - Umesharam and Omprakash Bishnoi.