CBI to get missing nurse’s blackmail tape tested

By IANS,

Jodhpur : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will get a forensic examination conducted on an audio tape in which missing nurse Bhanwari Devi talks about her efforts to extort money from former Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna on the basis of a CD showing both in a compromising position, sources said Friday.


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The audio clip which surfaced Thursday has Bhanwari Devi in a telephonic conversation allegedly with legislator Malkhan Singh’s sister Indra in Rajasthani dialect.

Bhanwari Devi, who allegedly features in a CD with Maderna, has been missing since Sep 1. Maderna was sacked from the cabinet by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Oct 16 over the allegations that he had a role in her disappearance, believed to be kidnapping.

“Bhanwari in the taped conversation claims that she would approach the superintendent of police if she is not paid the money for the CD,” a police officer who did not want to be named told IANS.

She also mentions the name of Sohan Lal Vishnoi, who was arrested by Jodhpur police over her disappearance. “She claims that Sohan Lal has assured of getting Rs.7 crore for the CD from some people in Delhi,” said the officer.

The nurse also claims to put the Gehlot government in trouble by making the CD public, the officer said.

“The CBI is trying to ascertain if the audio clip is genuine. A forensic examination of the clip will be conducted at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL),” said the officer.

The CBI had earlier also stumbled upon clues suggesting that Bhanwari Devi was blackmailing some politicians in Rajasthan on the basis of CDs which showed them in compromising positions with her.

The CBI recently quizzed some producers of Rajasthani folk music albums here over her disappearance. It picked up some producers with whom Bhanwari had worked on albums as an artist.

“After the key suspect, Shahabuddin, surrendered in a court on Oct 22, the main focus of the CBI was to recover the CD. The agency officers have quizzed some people who had earlier claimed that there is such a CD,” said the officer.

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