Vehicle used in abduction of Bhanwari Devi recovered in Gujarat

The vehicle used for abducting Bhanwari Devi, a nurse in Rajasthan allegedly at the instance of state Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderna, was Saturday recovered from Kanodar village in Gujarat's Banaskantha district, police said.

36-year-old Devi, who was posted as auxiliary nurse midwife at a sub-center in Jaliwada village, around 120 km from Jodhpur district in Rajasthan, went missing from September 1.

Circle inspector Indrasingh Rathod of Pipaar police station recovered the Bolero SUV from a garage and left for Jodhapur in Rajasthan in the afternoon.

Rathod said that on September 9, Shahabuddin Sherkhan, one of the accused in the alleged abduction case, had left the vehicle for repairing at Kanodar village.

"We got a tip-off that the jeep, which was believed to have been used for her disappearance, is here and we came to recover it. Owner of the garage, Parvez, informed us that the accused had kept the vehicle for repairing and also paid Rs 10,000 in advance for replacement of some spare parts," Rathod said.

But since nobody turned up to take the vehicle back even after 20 days, it created suspicion in the mind of the garage owner, Rathod said.

Amarchand, husband of Devi, had alleged she was abducted at the behest of Mahipal Maderna and his associates, charges refuted by the minister.

Bhanwari Devi's name had come to the fore sometime back after a CD that allegedly showed her in a compromising position with the minister and an MLA, was circulated.