Shivani puzzle: cops pick up one from pieces lying in Gurgaon

They also admit that Satya Prakash, the co-accused, was their tenant for two years until he went absconding. But all this is just a coincidence, they claim.

‘‘He’s being made a scapegoat under pressure to solve the case. As the investigative agencies hit a wall, they had to pin the blame on someone,’’ says Bhagwan’s brother-in-law Hari Om, who has gone to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) alleging police harassment.

‘‘All they have as evidence against us is a call which Satya Prakash made to Shivani from our mobile phone…(But) a lot of people would come to our house to use the phone, and the mobile was always lying around so he could have easily used it,’’ he said.

In fact, it’s this call that the police used to track Bhagwan down and which could turn out to be key evidence in the case.

Bhagwan’s family says that Satya Prakash, the sarpanch of a village in Jhajjar, lived with his wife and child as tenants in their house between May 1997 to September 1999. Shivani was murdered in January 1999.

Bhagwan’s father, 90-year-old Onkar Sharma, was the closest to the IPS officer, says the family. ‘‘My father-in-law was the SHO in Rohtak Sadar in 1983 when R K Sharma was the superintendent of police in Rohtak,’’ said Bhagwan’s wife Santosh.

‘‘Our grandfather was a policeman and would meet all kinds of people. How were we to know what they were like?’’ adds her daughter Hitesh. ‘‘An innocent man has been taken away and we cannot do anything about it.’’

The Sharmas are well-heeled and well-connected in Gurgaon: Bhagwan’s wife was an independent councillor from Om Nagar ward from 1994-99 although she admits, ‘‘It was a reserved seat for women. People actually voted for my husband. He was very well connected with all big politicians.’’

In fact, on the living-room wall, there’s a picture of Bhagwan’s daughter receiving Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Next to it is one of Bhagwan sporting a revolver in his holster and cartridges. They have four daughters and a son.

Bhagwan’s family owns various properties, a company called Gahilote Private Firms, and a bottling factory for McDowells. Hitesh runs the family-owned Saraswati Sweets Restaurant, in Gurgaon.

According to the police, Bhagwan had walked in with mithai into the Bhatnagars’ apartment on January 23, 1999, the day Shivani was stabbed and strangulated to death.

The family also complained about the way Bhagwan was picked up by a police team dressed in civvies. ‘‘They came in a Maruti Zen and Alto. For three days, they did not even tell us where they had taken him,’’ claimed Hari Om.