INDRA BISHNOI SENT TO 14DAY JUDICIAL CUSTODY

Bishnoi, the prime suspect in the Bhanwari Devi murder case, was on Saturday sent to judicial custody by a court in Jodhpur.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the case, produced Bishnoi before the metropolitan magistrate court that ordered her to be sent to judicial custody for 14 days and will be lodged in the women’s barracks of the Jodhpur central jail, officials said.

Bishnoi was absconding since 2011 and a reward of ₹ 5 lakh was also declared for information about her whereabouts.

Until now, 15 accused have been arrested in connection with the case. Former Congress legislators Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, along with former minister Mahipal Maderna are in jail.

Bhanwari Devi, a trained midwife and nurse, was killed on September 1, 2011, allegedly on the orders of the former Congress lawmaker and the then Rajasthan minister Mahipal Singh Maderna. She was abducted from Jodhpur’s Bilara area on September 1, 2011 and murdered subsequently. According to the CBI chargesheet, it was on Indra’s advice that Bhanwari made a sex tape with Maderna, who was then Rajasthan’s minister for water resources.

The probe agency said that Indra wanted to disgrace Maderna so that her brother Malkhan could pitch for the minister’s post. Bhanwari, instead of handing over the tape to Indra began blackmailing Maderna.

The chargesheet said Malkhan had a relationship with Bhanwari Devi and was the father of her youngest child, and she was constantly demanding money from him.