Ten days after he went missing following the death of his wife Twisha Sharma, Samarth Singh was arrested on Friday evening.
Twisha was found dead at her matrimonial house in Bhopal on May 12. Since then, the case has drawn intense scrutiny, with her family alleging dowry harassment and repeatedly questioning the manner in which the investigation was conducted.
The breakthrough came hours after Samarth withdrew his anticipatory bail plea from the Madhya Pradesh High Court. His counsel informed the court that the application before the single Bench of Justice Avanindra Singh had been withdrawn. Soon after, Samarth reached the high court in Jabalpur to surrender. However, the court directed him to surrender before a court in Bhopal instead, following which a police team present on the premises took him into custody.
The arrest ended a 10-day search during which the Madhya Pradesh Police faced mounting criticism over what many saw as a weak and delayed probe. Questions were raised over why key evidence, including the belt allegedly used by Twisha for hanging, was not sent for forensic examination during the first autopsy.
The investigation also came under the spotlight because of allegations that Samarth’s mother, retired judge Giribala Singh, was influencing the probe and not cooperating with investigators.
The high court has now issued notice to Giribala over pleas seeking cancellation of her anticipatory bail. The case took another significant turn on Friday when the Jabalpur High Court allowed a second autopsy of Twisha’s body, overturning a previous order. The high court directed that the procedure be conducted by a team from AIIMS-Delhi in Bhopal itself. A special flight will be arranged to bring the AIIMS doctors to the state capital, with the court making it clear that the exercise must be completed at the earliest.
At the same time, the Madhya Pradesh Government’s recommendation for a CBI investigation has given the family fresh hope. Welcoming the move, Twisha’s cousin Meenakshi said the family believed a fair probe had not taken place so far.
Fresh questions have also emerged over CCTV footage from the residence. A nearly three-hour gap between the CCTV visuals and the recorded time of death has become a major point of scrutiny in the case. The owner of the CCTV firm said he received a call from Giribala informing him that there had been an “accident” at the house and asking for the footage to be extracted and handed over to the police.
The family has also questioned why several influential individuals were allegedly contacted after Twisha Sharma’s death. In a statement issued by her father Navnidhi Sharma, the family claimed Giribala Singh made nearly 46 calls to IAS and IPS officers, judges, doctors and advocates after Twisha was found dead.
Twisha’s lawyer Anurag Srivastav alleged Samarth attempted to remain hidden inside the courtroom before being taken into custody.
