A Northern Virginia man must remain in police custody during his wife’s disappearance, three days after prosecutors laid out chilling details in court, including evidence of pools of blood and missing knives.
Naresh Bhatt was remanded in custody without bail on Monday. On Friday, he was charged with concealing a dead body.
His wife, 28-year-old Mamta Kafle Bhatt, has not been seen for nearly a month and missed her baby daughter’s first birthday.
Naresh Bhatt was arrested at the family’s Manassas Park home on Thursday. The charges against him mean police have evidence that a body was hidden. However, Mamta Bhatt’s body has not been found.
The husband of Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a Manassas Park woman who has been missing for more than three weeks, has been arrested and charged with concealing a body. The search for Bhatt continues. News4’s Drew Wilder reports.
At the court hearing on Friday, evidence was presented that the husband packed his things and sold his car
Prosecutors said Friday there was evidence of blood pooling in the home’s master bedroom and blood splatter in the master bathroom. They said investigators found evidence that a body had been dragged. Video obtained by News4 showed investigators dragging what appeared to be large strips of rolled-up carpet into a Prince William County police cruiser.
In presenting their case, the prosecution stated that Naresh Bhatt had changed his statement several times about when he last saw his wife.
Her cellphone was still active on Aug. 1, the day after Naresh Bhatt told police he had last seen his wife. The phone last beeped in Loudoun County, where police say they have video showing Naresh Bhatt purchasing cleaning supplies at a Walmart.
He also went to a Walmart in Prince William County and purchased a set of knives. Two of those knives are now missing, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said there was evidence that Naresh Bhatt was in the process of packing up his house and selling his car. His and his daughter’s passports were in plain sight when police entered the house for a search. He appeared in court on Friday in an orange jumpsuit. He had nothing to say to the judge and had an interpreter help him follow the proceedings.
The defence argued that he should be released because Bhatt did not flee and anyone can buy cleaning supplies. The lawyer said there was no evidence that the blood found in the house was Mamta’s or that she had been killed.
Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a nurse, was reported missing after she failed to show up for her shifts at work. Friends said this was highly unusual as she was caring for her baby and was often active on social media.
Her friends filled the small courtroom and listened Friday as prosecutors presented evidence for the charges. Outside the courthouse, Holly Wirth, a spokeswoman for the friends and family, told reporters they were not prepared to hear the horrific details.
“What we heard was worse than we could have ever imagined. I have to give credit to the prosecutors. They spoke as openly as they could. But the details are absolutely shocking,” Wirth said.
Shortly after the arrest, a police officer carried the couple’s daughter out of the house. The little girl had been in the care of the social services since Thursday, but Mamta Kafle Bhatt’s mother received an emergency visa to come to the United States and care for her. Friends and family raised money for a plane ticket.
Husband said he last saw Mamta Kafle Bhatt on August 1; prosecutors now believe he killed her on July 30
The missing woman was last seen on July 27 at her workplace as a pediatric nurse at UVA Prince William Medical Center, according to a police memo. No one other than her husband has reported seeing her since then. On July 28, she spoke with a friend, police previously said.
Prosecutors now believe that she was killed by her husband on July 30 and that he began covering his tracks on July 31.
Her husband told police he last saw her on July 31.
Mamta Bhatt’s colleagues requested a welfare check on August 2 after she failed to show up for work. Officers went to her home and spoke with her husband, who gave them additional information at that time and said he did not want to report her missing.
Three days later, he contacted the police and reported her missing.
It was not until August 8 that her disappearance was declared involuntary.
The pace of the investigation frustrated Mamta Bhatt’s friends and community at times. Wirth, the family spokeswoman, said she lost faith in the Manassas Park Police Department at one point, but regained it after speaking with the police chief. The police chief changed his mind, saying there were details they could not share with anyone to protect the integrity of the investigation.
According to Manassas Park police, there has been no activity on Mamta Bhatt’s credit cards, bank statements or phone since her disappearance.
