By IANS,
Jodhpur (Rajasthan) : The Rajasthan government has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the disappearance of an auxiliary nurse and midwife, allegedly featuring in a CD in a compromising situation with a state minister.
The CD allegedly showed Public Health and Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderana with Bhanwari Devi, who disappeared from Jodhpur two weeks ago.
After Bhanwari Devi’s disappearance from Bilara area, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged the minister’s hand in her kidnapping and had demanded a CBI probe.
“Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot held a meeting of senior police officers in Jaipur Wednesday night and decided that an impartial enquiry by the CBI should be conducted,” a senior police officer said adding that state Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal was also present in the meeting.
Gehlot had earlier claimed that unless the alleged CD comes up before police, the allegations of immoral activity against the minister was baseless. However, apparently bowing to mounting political pressure, the state government took the decision of ordering a CBI enquiry.
Maderana is also believed to have met Gehlot in Jaipur Wednesday night.
Bhanwari Devi, who has remained absent from duty since Aug 25, was reported missing Sep 1 and a missing complaint was lodged by her husband the next day. The missing complaint then turned into a kidnapping case and police arrested a government contractor who had allegedly handed her over to a gang in Shekhawati region in Rajasthan.
It was alleged that the gang took her to Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district.
Police of both the states denied reports that her body had been recovered from a grave at Urai village in Jhansi Wednesday.
“The rumours are baseless and we are still on the trail of kidnappers,” a senior police officer, who did not want to be named, told IANS.
Mahipal Maderana, the son of prominent Jat community leader Parasram Maderana, represents Aunsia constituency of Jodhpur in the state assembly.