MADHU SHARMA'S CHARGE "My husband is hiding in the same place where Mahajan used to see her. Go and ask Mahajan why did he murder her. Ask the Government why it is harbouring a criminal. Senior Delhi Police officials told my husband they were aware a top politician was involved in the case. On the day she died, Mahajan talked to Shivani for 45 minutes on phone."

PRAMOD MAHAJAN'S DEFENCE "I have never met R.K. Sharma in my life. My relationship with Shivani was a professional one between a journalist and a politician. There is nothing more. These are diversionary tactics by the wife of an accused and I leave it to the public to judge the issue. I am also curious to find out who is behind this heinous crime."

When an inspector-general of police (IGP) who is supposed to hunt down criminals is himself on the run as a suspect in a murder case, then you can smell something more than a rat. And if the IGP's wife turns around and proclaims that her husband was being hounded to protect a prominent member of the Union Cabinet, there is something positively fishy.

Last week, the mystery surrounding the murder of Delhi journalist Shivani Bhatnagar took a sensational turn when Madhu Sharma, wife of Ravi Kant Sharma, the Haryana IGP (prisons) who is the prime suspect in the case, alleged that Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pramod Mahajan had a role in the January 23, 1999 killing. She showed no signs of restraint when she appeared before journalists at her Panchkula residence on the outskirts of Chandigarh and named the high profile Union minister, who is a close aide of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as the one responsible for the journalist's murder. "I have named him. Do you have the guts to go and ask him or (Deputy Prime Minister) L.K. Advani why did he murder her?"

Nation

R.K. SHARMA: A BAGFUL OF TRICKS July 31: After Delhi Police announce arrest of Sri Bhagwan, another suspect, Sharma begins plotting his moves. Madhu Sharma says Bhagwan is just "an acquaintance". Aug 2: Sharma briefly attends office and proceeds on 10 days' leave. He is said to have got a tip-off from his friends in the police. Madhu denies he is on the run but keeps mum about his whereabouts. Aug 4: Delhi Police team visits Sharma's residence. Madhu informs them he is meeting his lawyers and says that he will soon join investigations. Police go slow, thinking Sharma will give himself up. It was a clever move to dodge the police. Aug 5-6: Sharma moves Panchkula court for anticipatory bail. Denied bail. Aug 7: Non-bailable warrant issued against Sharma by Delhi Police. Reward of Rs 50,000 announced for information leading to his arrest. Aug 8-10: Madhu accuses Union Home Ministry of hatching a conspiracy to frame her husband. Says BJP leadership is trying to protect an influential politician. Panchkula court rejects bail application again. Aug 12: Sharma fails to rejoin duty, ignores departmental directives to join in the investigations. Aug 13: Sharma's bail application rejected by a Delhi court. His daughters accuse Delhi Police of harassing them and other family members. August 14-15: Sharma removed as IGP (prisons). Madhu tells the media that Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan was behind Shivani's murder.

Madhu betrayed no signs of being the wife of a man who was on the run. Instead she chose to go on the offensive, virtually taunting the police and the media to locate her husband. She said after Shivani's murder, her husband quoted Delhi Police officials as saying that a politician was involved. "He said the Delhi Police had told him that they were not in a position to question the politician because of a one-line directive from the top-'don't question any politician'."

The development, though not unexpected, is another in a series of scandals for the ruling BJP, which is already reeling under a media assault on the petrol pump and land allotment scams. In the climate of distrust that prevails, where anything said against a politician is taken as the gospel truth, Madhu's charges found some takers. Just a few days ago, while interacting with journalists, Mahajan had said, half in jest, that he "expected" his name to figure in the controversy. But after Madhu's dramatic TV appearance on August 15, Mahajan was quick to deny that his relations with Shivani were anything "more than those between a politician and a journalist. These allegations are a sad attempt by a woman to save her husband R.K. Sharma who has been refused bail by every court and is hiding from the police". The Government too jumped to Mahajan's defence and said there was no question of seeking his resignation. Acting on party advice, Mahajan has decided to file a criminal defamation suit against Madhu.

Why did Madhu target Mahajan? A senior BJP leader claims Sharma knew that Shivani regularly contacted Mahajan in the course of her professional work. "Since Mahajan is a controversial figure, Sharma asked his wife to accuse him of involvement in the murder."

Meanwhile, the IGP continues to be on the run. Sharma was an OSD in the Prime Minister's Office during the tenure of I.K. Gujral when he met Shivani in 1997. Soon the relationship blossomed beyond the pale of a reporter on duty and a key official providing valuable information. Sharma and Shivani became obsessive lovers. Then things turned sour. Weeks before she died, she received threatening calls. Obviously, an element of blackmail had crept into the relationship.

The Delhi Police plan to turn on the heat so high that Sharma has no option but to surrender. When that happens, the law will be one step closer to cracking the case.

-with Rajeev Deshpande