Jodhpur:
Rajasthan Police have announced a cash reward of Rs.2,000 for anyone who gives clues on the disappearance of a nurse who allegedly features in a CD showing her in a compromising position with a state minister.
The reward was announced late Friday, a police officer told reporters on Saturday.
The CD in question reportedly shows state Public Health and Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderna with auxiliary nurse and midwife Bhanwari Devi, who went missing on September 1.
Shahbuddin, a resident of Pipad area here and a mechanic by profession, is suspected to be the key link which can lead the police to the woman, the officer said.
Sketches of suspects wanted in the case will be released, he said.
The Rajasthan government Friday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.
Maderna claims to have recommended to the state government to order a CBI probe. "It is obviously a political conspiracy and I am being framed," he said.
"I have not even been named in the FIR (First Information Report) lodged in connection with her kidnapping. My name doesn't figure in the police investigation. It is surprising how these allegations are being levelled against me," said Maderna.
Bhanwari Devi's husband had on Thursday threatened to immolate himself if his wife was not found soon.
"I suspect my wife has been killed. If not, she must be recovered soon. I suspect the involvement of a state minister in her kidnapping," Amarchand told reporters here.
"I will set myself on fire in public if the government doesn't take speedy action in the matter," he added.
After Bhanwari Devi's disappearance from Bilara area, the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged the minister's hand in her kidnapping and asked for a CBI probe.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot earlier claimed that unless the CD comes up before police, allegations of immoral activity against the minister cannot be made.
Bhanwari Devi has remained absent from duty since August 25.
A missing complaint was lodged by her husband the next day. The complaint was 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 have denied reports that her body had been recovered from a grave in Jhansi Wednesday.
Maderna, the son of prominent Jat community leader Parasram Maderna, represents Osian constituency of Jodhpur in the state assembly.