Jabalpur: A Bhopal court on Saturday sent Samarth Singh, husband of deceased Twisha Sharma and the prime accused in her death case, to seven days of police remand after he was produced before the court following a medical examination. The developments came as the Madhya Pradesh high court ordered a second autopsy by an expert AIIMS Delhi team and the state government handed the probe over to the CBI.
The 32-year-old actor was found dead at her residence in Bhopal’s Katara Hills area on May 12. Her family has alleged that she was subjected to harassment and abuse over dowry demands.
Singh, a lawyer by profession, had earlier withdrawn his anticipatory bail plea from the high court. Later in the evening, he appeared before a district court in Jabalpur in an attempt to surrender. However, the court did not permit the surrender, following which a Bhopal police team took him into custody and left for Bhopal, according to his lawyers.
During the hearing, high court judge AK Singh noted that the police have the right to interrogate the accused for 24 hours before producing him before a competent court for either judicial or police custody.
The Bar Council of India has also suspended Singh’s licence to practice law with immediate effect.
High court orders second autopsy
The Madhya Pradesh high court on Friday directed that a second post-mortem examination be conducted at AIIMS Bhopal in the presence of expert doctors from Delhi.
Justice Singh passed the order while hearing an urgent petition filed by Sharma’s family earlier in the day.
Counsel appearing for the accused, Mrigendra Singh, told the court they had no objection to a second autopsy, but said their “only worry” was that “names of the doctors of AIIMS, Bhopal who are very good will be tarnished”.
The court clarified that ordering a second post-mortem should not be seen as questioning the earlier examination.
“It is also of the view that, by directing a second post-mortem, neither this court nor the petitioner has directly or indirectly imputed any wrongful motive or cast any doubt upon the earlier post-mortem report or on anyone but death of deceased has taken place within six months of marriage, therefore, second post-mortem should be conducted to clear all doubts from any quarter,” the judge said.
The court also requested the director of AIIMS New Delhi to constitute a team of experts who could travel to Bhopal at the earliest on a special flight arranged by the state government to conduct the examination.
Family seeks fresh probe
Advocate Anurag Shrivastava, appearing for Sharma’s family, said the petition was filed in the morning and the court acted swiftly.
“We filed an urgent writ petition at 10:30 AM, and the court directed AIIMS Bhopal to conduct the second post-mortem at the earliest. Expert doctors will travel from Delhi to carry out the examination,” he said.
Shrivastava added that the family had also challenged the interim bail granted to Singh’s mother, a retired judge and chairperson of the Consumer Forum, identified as Giribala Singh. “The court issued a notice, and the matter will be heard on Monday,” he said.
MP govt hands probe to CBI
Earlier in the day, the Madhya Pradesh government recommended a CBI inquiry into the case. The state home department issued a notification transferring the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
The case, registered at Katara Hills Police Station, includes charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
The decision came two days after Sharma’s family met Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav.
Addressing a press conference, Bhopal Commissioner of Police Sanjay Kumar said Samarth Singh had attempted to surrender before a court in Jabalpur, but police took him into custody after the court refused to allow the surrender.
Responding to Twisha’s mother-in-law, Giribala Singh’s denial of receiving three police notices, Kumar maintained that notices had been served and said the police were following due process.
“We’ve issued three notices to her. Now she is denying it, that’s a different matter. But we served notices. She is accused of heinous offences. There is no anomaly. Our effort is to investigate her as soon as possible. We have to follow a procedure. We have also put a notice for the cancellation of anticipatory bail in court. There are no lapses. We conducted our investigation impartially and in a completely fair manner, and everything is on record,” he said.
