Court records statements of senior scientist from CFSL Slug: Bhanwari Devi case

JODHPUR: A court here recorded the statements of the senior scientist of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in the trial of the Bhanwari Devi abduction and murder case on Friday.
He had administered the DNA test of the blood samples of ex-MLA Malkhan Singh Bishnoi and an accused in the case and of the youngest daughter of Bhanwari Devi.
"Senior Scientist of the CFSL B K Mahopatra had tested the blood samples of both of them for DNA examination and had established that Bishnoi was the biological father of Gungun", said senior special counsel (CBI) Ashok Joshi.
"Mahopatra's statement and the report by him were taken on record after his deposition before the court confirming the relationship between the two," said Joshi.
Before this, Bishnoi had objected to the legitimacy of exhibiting the DNA report in the court citing section 112 of the Evidence Act. But judge Mahendra Kumar Sinhal had rejected their plea sustaining the argument of the prosecution, which said that it was not the legitimacy but the paternity, which they were concerned about.
Joshi said that it was an important exhibit before the court to prove the motivation behind the crime. "Bhanwari was blackmailing Bishnoi on account of this relationship and threatening to disclose this relationship publically, which prompted him to conspire and kill her," said Joshi.