Operation on to locate Bhanwari's remains in Rajasthan canal

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Police divers on Friday recovered a bag containing two country-made pistols and a wooden bat from the Rajiv Gandhi Canal near here to which water supply has been stopped to enable CBI to locate the remains of nurse Bhanwari Devi.

An 'operation watch' is now underway to locate the watch of the 36-year-old nurse who went missing in September last.

The CBI has also picked up samples of soil from the spot near the canal for examination. "We are draining the nearby canal to search for her watch which one of the accused claims has been dumped along with the ashes of the nurse," a senior CBI official said.

The CBI had made a request to the Rajasthan government to stop the water to the canal following which it was stopped in the wee hours of Friday.

CBI director A. P. Singh and additional director Salim Ali, accompanied by forensic experts, had visited the spot on Thursday where the nurse was allegedly burnt after being kidnapped.

The remains of Bhanwari Devi were allegedly dumped by accused Bishnaram and Kailash Jakhar in the canal in Jaloda village.

The CBI took both the accused, who allegedly played a key role in disposing off Bhanwari's body, to the spot and recreated the scene of the crime. A CSFL team is accompanying the CBI and collecting evidence.

They will ascertain whether the articles recovered on Friday have any connection with the case, police sources said.

Bishna Ram Bishnoi, one of the main accused, was arrested by police in Pune and brought here on Thursday on a transit remand whereas Kailash Jakhar was nabbed from Jodhpur-Ajmer road.

In another development, a local court in Jodhpur extended the judicial custody of accused Mahipal Maderna and Parasram till January 20.

They were produced before the local CBI court where magistrate Jagdish Jyani extended their judicial custody.

Meanwhile, the CBI director has written to the Rajasthan director general of police thanking him for the cooperation extended by the police to the agency in solving the case.

The director has also complimented his team for solving the blind case which posed a challenge to the agency in the absence of leads and destruction of evidence.