By Subhash K Jha

As the police have begun to treat Raghuveer Pandit, alias Bhola as a prime suspect in his mother's gruesome murder, the Pandit family braces itself for what could turn out to be an indelible slur on the family of musicians, namely sister Sulakshana and Vijayta Pandit, brothers Jatin, Lalit and Mandar.

Speaking on behalf of the family Lalit Pandit says, `We're very happy with the way the police has been investigating the case. Himanshu Roy(Mumbai police's Joint Commissioner) is doing a thorough job. They have one by one eliminated all other suspects.

And now we are very disturbed because our nephew Bhola(Raghuveer) is a prime suspect. It is very distressing to have this calamity befall the family. We all have begun to think like crime investigators after our sister's murder. And we wonder if our nephew is capable of this unimaginable crime. `

Apparently Raghuveer has been keeping the wrong company and is heavily into drugs.

Says Lalit, `Bhola is being thoroughly investigated. Bhola's friends are also been investigated. Some of them are from good families but have bad reputations because of their drug habits. Like a lost of junkies, Bhola is a compulsive liar. He has told us many lies and many of his statements to the police are contradictory. He keeps changing his statements all the time. `

Apparently Raghuveer has been in a relationship with a girl who is apparently also a junkie. Under this girl's influence, Raghuveer has been experimenting with expensive drugs.

According to sources Raghuveer's girlfriend is also in the net of suspicion.

Says Lalit softly, `As we all know drug users are the most desperate people in the world. They can do anything for money. Bhola's father Jayaprakash Singh was very strict in controlling Bhola's budget to discourage his drug habits.

However Jayaprakashji a police officer, was posted in Indore. My sister Sandhya lived with her daughter and son in Mumbai. Sandhya couldn't control Bhola.

He used to quarrel violently with his mother. We are hoping and praying Bhola is not directly involced in the crime. `

Apparently police investigations have unearthed wide discrepancies in Raghuveer's statements.

It has so far been believed that the murdered woman was last seen at the bank where she was apparently dropped off by a friend. Apparently police investigations have now revealed that Sandhya proceeded from the bank to home she owned in Bhimshankar apartments, quite close to her other home in the NRI colony where Sandhya stayed with her family.

On the fateful day Sandhya proceeded from the bank to her residence in Bhimshankar.

Says Lalit, `We now know that Sandhya was last seen at Bhimashankar. So far we were not aware of this. The police have told us that she interacted with someone at Bhimashankar and that she was looking unwell. We don't know what happened after that. `