Bhanwari Devi case
JODHPUR (RAJ): The CBI on Saturday recovered key evidences including watch, jewellery parts and body remains allegedly belonging to missing nurse Bhanwari Devi from a canal near here.
Sources in the agency said the items can prove vital in resolving the mystery surrounding the abduction-cum-murder of the 36-year-old woman.
They said the evidence, recovered by a joint team of the CBI and the Rajasthan Police from the Rajiv Gandhi Canal, corroborates the statement of an accused who claimed that she was strangulated and the body was later burnt and her last remains dumped in the water body.
The remains of Bhanwari were allegedly dumped by accused Bishna Ram and Kailash Jakhar in the canal. Besides the watch, beads of a necklace, a pendant, an earing, part of skull, portions of teeth allegedly belonging to Bhanwari were also recovered by the team, the sources said.
The agency is expecting to get more evidences from the canal to further its probe, they said.
Two country-made pistols were recovered yesterday from the canal in Jaloda village, about 150 km from Jodhpur. The Rajasthan government has stopped water supply to the canal to enable the CBI to locate the remains of the nurse.
The agency sleuths are also examining soil samples from the spot near the canal for evidences. The sources also said that a shirt, a shawl and a torn portion of a jeans, said to be of Kailash Jakhar, have been extracted from canal. The wrist watch is seen as an important evidence as Om Prakash, in his statements, had told the CBI that it was thrown into the canal along with other belongings after burning her. “We were waiting for this watch during this search as this is an important recovery and evidence,” CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said.
“Besides this, a wooden bat, jewellery and teeth are also important recoveries as they matched with the statements of the accused,” Mishra said.
A Central Scientific Forensic Laboratory (CSFL) team, which is accompanying the CBI in collecting evidence, has taken the custody of all items for examination.
CBI Director A P Singh and Additional Director Salim Ali, accompanied by forensic experts, had visited the spot earlier this week where the nurse was killed.
The CBI had also taken the accused, who allegedly played a key role in disposing off the body, to the spot and recreated the scene of the crime. (PTI)