‘Bhanwari was killed on Sept 1,body was handed over to another gang’

Meanwhile,the CBI questioned former minister Mahipal Maderna,sacked for his involvement in the case,for three hours on Friday in Jodhpur.

Senior police officials told The Indian Express that though the original plan was to hand over Devi alive to a gang operating in Jodhpur district,she was killed hours after her abduction on September 1.

A senior official said,“They started driving towards Osian from Jodhpur city and Shahabuddin has told us that Devi realised that she would be killed and began to struggle.

According to Shahabuddin,the situation was getting out of control and they strangled her to ensure that they were not noticed.”

He added that Devi’s phone was active from 5 pm to around 10 pm on September 1 before it was switched off or destroyed.

According to sources,information from the three suspects in custody—Shahabuddin,Sohan Lal Bishnoi and Baldev Ram—has led the police and CBI to believe that the trio’s initial plan was to hand over Devi alive to a gang that operated in Jodhpur district.

Earlier,the trio had maintained that they had only abducted Devi and handed her over to another gang.

The official added that a joint team of the police and the CBI were trying to verify Shahabuddin’s claims and were attempting to determine where she was possibly buried.

Rajasthan Additional Advocate General Anand Purohit said there was no official confirmation of her death or whereabouts. “It is still a matter of investigation and is very sensitive,” he said.

A day after the CBI submitted a progress report on the investigation to the High Court,Maderna was summoned for a third round of interrogation on Friday along with Congress MLA Malkhan Singh’s brother-in-law Mohan Ram Bishnoi and Riyaz,an acquaintance of Shahabuddin. Maderna was admitted to a local hospital on November 12 after he complained of chest pain following two rounds of questioning.