Samarth Singh, the husband of Twisha Sharma who allegedly ended her life recently, was taken into custody by the Madhya Pradesh Police on Friday (May 22, 2026) after he remained absconding for days in connection with a dowry death and harassment case, officials said. The Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered a second autopsy of Sharma’s body by a specialised AIIMS Delhi team.
The case saw a spree of developments on Friday, with the State government recommending a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, two days after Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met Sharma’s family.
“In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, the Government of Madhya Pradesh hereby gives its consent to extend the powers and jurisdiction of the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to the entire State of Madhya Pradesh for the purpose of investigation of the above case,” a notification by the M.P. Home Department said.
Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar confirmed the detaining of Mr. Singh saying that the police will produce him before a court within 24 hours.
“Yes, he (accused Samarth Singh) has been taken into custody, and our police team is handling this entire process. We have to produce him before the court within 24 hours. So, we will produce him within the given time,” the Commissioner said.
Mr. Singh, a lawyer, was taken into custody by the Jabalpur Police when he arrived at the district court there. Jaideep Kaurav, his lawyer, said, “He appeared before the Jabalpur District Court to surrender himself, but the court was not available. After that, the Jabalpur Police took his custody and handed him over to the Bhopal Police.”
“I don’t have any information about the commotion at the District Court. He had arrived at the District Court to surrender himself, but the judge there had already left because the court’s time was over and the court was not available. The police took his custody from the court and then handed him over to the Bhopal police. The Bhopal police have taken custody, so there are chances that they will present him in the Bhopal court tomorrow,” he said, speaking to a news agency.
Hearing a petition filed by Sharma’s father Navnidhi Sharma, Justice Avanindra Kumar Singh said that since the woman had died within six months of marriage, a second post-mortem should be conducted to clear all doubts. It will be conducted in Bhopal, the court ruled.
“After considering all the grounds, this Court 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. Accordingly, as agreed during the hearing, this Court requests the Director, AIIMS, New Delhi, to constitute a team of experts at the earliest who may arrive at the earliest by special flight arranged by the State Government to conduct the post-mortem examination,” the High Court said.
Hearing another petition that challenged an anticipatory bail granted to retired judge Giribala Singh, mother-in-law of Sharma and an accused in the case, by a local Bhopal court, the High Court directed her to appear before it on or before May 25.
Ankur Pandey, the lawyer representing Sharma’s family, said that apart from the family, the State government had also challenged the anticipatory bail after which the High Court issued notice to Ms. Singh.
Commissioner Kumar told reporters that the police had issued three notices to Ms. Singh, and that the anticipatory bail was challenged as she had not been “cooperating” with the probe. He said the police had included allegations of Sharma’s family that Ms. Singh had made several phone calls to influential persons and judicial authorities in the wake of the woman’s death.
“We registered the FIR within two days itself, so we have taken prompt action in this matter. The remaining investigation is ongoing on our part. The investigation by the CBI is a matter at the government level,” he said, responding to questions on allegations about “lack of cooperation” from the local police.
Sharma, 33, was found hanging at her marital home in Bhopal on the night of May 12. She had married Mr. Singh on December 25 last year. Her family has levelled various allegations agaisnt Mr. Singh and her mother, including those of mental harassment and financial demands.
While Mr. Singh remained at large since the registration of an FIR in the case on May 15, the case took an ugly turn after his mother claimed before the media that Sharma was dealing with mental illness, was taking medicines given to patients of schizophrenia and had an addiction to contraband substances like marijuana.
Published – May 22, 2026 06:39 pm IST
