The CBI probe into Bhanwari Devi missing case has established that the body of the 36-year-old auxiliary nurse-cum-folk singer was set on fire in the desert near Jodhpur after she was allegedly murdered by a gang headed by Bishna Ram. The remains were later scattered in a nearby canal in an effort to destroy evidence and also to avoid detection by the investigating agency.
The agency, with the help of the Maharashtra police, on Wednesday arrested Bishna Ram from Lonavala, near Pune. Bishna Ram, who was carrying a cash reward of `5 lakhs on his head, will soon be brought to Jodhpur. The agency also arrested Kailash Jakhad, a key member of Bishna Ram gang, on Wednesday near Jodhpur.
Talking to reporters, Pune police commissioner Meeran Borwankar, said, “We had received a call from the CBI officials on Tuesday night who told us that they had information that Bishna Ram was hiding somewhere in Pune or surrounding areas. Accordingly, we formed teams and from the intelligence gathered by our officers we arrested him from Lonavala on Wednesday morning”.
She, however, refused to disclose the exact location from where the arrest was made. She said that Bishna was a noted criminal having at least 42 cases registered against him, including the Bhanwari Devi kidnap and murder case.
Sources in the agency said, “Kailash Jakhar has told his interrogators that the Bishna Ram gang had burnt Bhanwari’s body after her murder at a spot in Osian village in Jodhpur and then her remains were thrown in a local canal”.
Officials probing the case have identified a few sites where the body was burnt, sources said, adding now the spot will be examined via forensic methods. Bishna Ram was arrested near Pune on the basis of revelations made by Jakhar, sources added.
Sources further said, “Probe by the agency has revealed that on September 1, Shahabuddin and Sohan Lal, both suspects in the case, took Bhanwari to Bilara, near Jodhpur, on a jeep. They had also installed a CD player inside the jeep to check the CD, allegedly showing former Rajasthan minister Mahipal in compromising position with the folk singer, which they wanted from Devi”.
When Bhanwari refused to give them the CD, Shahabuddin allegedly strangled her inside the jeep handed over her body to Bishna Ram and Jakhar, sources said. “The duo set her body on fire near Osian village in Jodhpur. The remains were later scattered in a nearby canal in Jodhpur,” sources said. The agency has also ascertained the identity of the person who ordered the killing of Bhanwari. Sources, however, refused to reveal the name of the person who order the killing.