Samarth Singh, the absconding husband of Twisha Sharma who was allegedly harassed for dowry and died last week in Bhopal, reached the Jabalpur district court on Friday evening to surrender, his lawyer said.
Jabalpur police have taken Twisha Sharma’s husband Samarth Singh into custody and will hand him over to Bhopal police, his lawyer said.
The development came around an hour after he withdrew his anticipatory bail application filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Samarth Singh has reached the Jabalpur district court to surrender, his lawyer Mrigendra Singh told PTI over phone.
He withdrew his anticipatory bail application plea from the single bench of the high court comprising Justice Avanindra Kumar Singh, his counsel Jaydeep Kaurav said.
With the withdrawal of the application, Singh was left with no other option but to surrender.
A police team also arrived on the court premises amid speculation that he will be taken to Bhopal.
Mediapersons thronged the court though no one could catch a glimpse of Samarth Singh, who is a lawyer by profession and who had been evading arrest since an FIR was registered against him and his mother, former district judge Giribala Singh, following Twisha Sharma's death on May 12.
Members of Twisha's family and their lawyers were also present outside the court.
"If he wants to surrender, he should do so before the trial court in Bhopal or before the investigation officer," said advocate Anurag Shrivastava, counsel for Twisha's family.
Asked about a defence lawyer's claim that Singh faced a threat to his life, Shrivastava gestured towards the crowded but peaceful court premises and said, "Do you see any threat here?" "He cannot hide here after the High Court directed him to surrender before the trial court in Bhopal or the investigation officer. All this appears to be part of a strategy for getting bail," the lawyer claimed.
The anticipatory bail application was filed before the high court on Thursday after a subordinate court turned down his plea last week.
Singh's mother Giribala Singh, a retired district and sessions judge and current chairperson of the Bhopal Consumer Court, was granted anticipatory bail last week by a Bhopal court.
She is named in the FIR registered in the death case.
The Madhya Pradesh government has moved to hand over the investigation into the death of Noida-based Twisha Sharma, allegedly linked to dowry harassment, to the CBI.
On May 22, the High Court approved a fresh post-mortem examination of Twisha Sharma, who was discovered dead at her residence in Bhopal after her marriage.
Justice Avanindra Kumar Singh directed that the post-mortem be carried out in Bhopal, adding that a special flight will be arranged to fly in the medical team for the procedure.
Twisha's family have also raised concerns over multiple phone calls allegedly made by her mother-in-law, Giribala Singh, to prominent individuals and CCTV technicians soon after Twisha’s death.
Twisha Sharma, 33, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area on May 12. Her family accused her in-laws of dowry harassment and abetment to suicide, while the Singh family claimed she was addicted to drugs.
Police registered an FIR under Sections 80(2), 85 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with relevant provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act against Samarth Singh and his mother.
Police had announced a cash reward of Rs 30,000 for information leading to Samarth Singh's arrest and also approached the court seeking revocation of his passport.
