A breakthrough was made in the case of the abduction of Jodhpur nurse Bhanwari Devi when the city crime branch on Wednesday arrested a person suspected to be the “prime accused” in her kidnapping and possible murder. Bishna Ram Bishnoi, 26, a resident of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, was arrested in the hill station of Lonavla, some 60 km west of Pune, early morning after a chase by four teams of the Pune police.
Bishnoi was picked up from an industrial godown at the hill station. The chase began following a tip-off from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the case, after the arrest of gang-member Kailash Jakhad earlier in the day by the agency.
The CBI has also located the spot where the body was reportedly burnt near Osian village in rural Jodhpur. Jakhad led the investigation team to the place.
“We have located the spot where the body was burnt, now we are in the process of getting the spot examined via forensic methods to confirm the same,” said a CBI source.
“According to Kailash Jakhad’s revelations, the members of the Bishna Ram gang had burnt Bhanwari Devi’s body at a spot in Osian in rural Jodhpur and then her remains were thrown in a local canal,” the CBI source added.
Pune police commissioner Meeran Borawankar said: “Bishnoi was carrying a Rs 5 lakh award on his head. We can certainly say he is the prime accused in the case.” Bishnoi will be taken to Jodhpur on Thursday. The players
Former Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna and MLA Malkhan Singh are also accused in the case of abduction, which took place on September 1. While the Pune police refused to elaborate on Bishnoi’s role in the matter, the transit report against him showed the CBI had booked him under charges such as criminal conspiracy, harbouring the offenders, abduction for murder and physical assault.
Borawankar said: “We got a tip-off from the CBI in the evening. However, the breakthrough came only by morning when our teams nabbed him in Lonavla.” The CBI also arrested last week Om Prakash, a brother of Bishna Ram and member of his gang who had participated in the disposal of the body.
{{/usCountry}}Borawankar said: “We got a tip-off from the CBI in the evening. However, the breakthrough came only by morning when our teams nabbed him in Lonavla.” The CBI also arrested last week Om Prakash, a brother of Bishna Ram and member of his gang who had participated in the disposal of the body.
{{/usCountry}}With inputs from New Delhi and Jodhpur