Bhanwari Devi case: CBI questions Cong MP

Jodhpur, Feb 9 (PTI) Congress MP from Pali Badri Jakhar was today questioned by the CBI in connection with the Bhanwari Devi murder case. Sources in the agency claimed Jakhar had been approached by the slain nurse for taking up her matter with some top politicians to build pressure for a settlement on Mahipal Maderna, then a minister in Rajasthan who is one of the main accused in the case. Sister of prime accused and Congress MLA Malkhan Singh, Indira Bishnoi, who is absconding, had also claimed that Bhanwari had allegedly approached Jakhar to "settle a deal" with Maderna who is behind bars in the case. They said Jakhar, who came in the morning, was questioned in detail about his meetings with Bhanwari Devi and the demands she had kept before him. He was also asked about the details of his meetings with some top leaders in the state about the case and his relations with Maderna and Malkhan Singh who are both under judicial custody in the case. CBI had claimed to have cracked the case last month with the arrest of Bishna Ram and recovery of Bhanwari's body parts and belongings from the Indira Canal in Jodhpur. The agency is on the look out for Indira Bishnoi, an alleged co-conspirator and sister of Congress MLA Malkhan Singh, agency sources said. They said sacked Maderna and Singh were being blackmailed by Bhanwari Devi who was allegedly having relations with them and threatened to expose them which led to her killing. According to the sources, Bhanwari had demanded Rs 50 lakh from Maderna with whom she was shown in a compromising position in a CD. She had also threatened Malkhan Singh that she would disclose in public that he was the father of her youngest daughter at a Bishnoi community fair on September 7.