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On August 14, Naresh Bhatt spoke to WUSA9's Katie Lusso outside his home, mentioning different details than what he told police.
MANASSAS PARK, Va. — We are closing in on two months since Mamta Kafle Bhatt was last seen.
On Monday, WUSA9 obtained body camera footage from the initial interaction the missing mother's husband Naresh Bhatt had with Manassas Park Police on August 2.
The footage starts with Manassas Park Police officers walking up the driveway of the Heather Court home that Naresh, Mamta, and their now 1-year-old daughter lived in. The officers speak with the tenants who were in the driveway before making their way to the front door.
When Naresh Bhatt answers the door the officers explain "We're looking for a Miss Mamta Kafle."
While holding their young daughter, Naresh Bhatt says "Yeah, she on Tuesday, Wednesday she left and then she said she gonna go to New York or Texas and then she have the phone and then she destroy the phone and then she left."
The officer clarifies "She destroyed the phone and left? She said she was going to New York?".
Naresh Bhatt nods and says "Yeah, her sister, like one of her sisters."
The officers continue to speak with him, asking "Did she say why she left?"
"Yeah, because we are about to separate and then the home inspection come here. I'm about to sell the home," said Naresh Bhatt.
On August 14, Naresh Bhatt spoke to WUSA9's Katie Lusso outside his home and said that he last saw his wife on Wednesday, July 31.
"We ate on the evening of Wednesday. She was the one who cooked and do the kitchen stuff. We do not have any specific conversation. We do not have any argument or something like that," said Naresh Bhatt.
>Watch WUSA's full interview with Naresh Bhatt below:
In the body camera footage, he doesn't mention that dinner.
The officers continue to speak with him and ask him for a phone number to reach Mamta. He tells the officers it's not the first time she's gone missing, as he looks in his phone.
"I don't have the phone number for her sister. Usually, I have like Facebook, but I don't have her phone number," said Naresh Bhatt.
"You know, like it's not like the first time she disappeared and then come back. I live with my parents over there, and she said like, ok, I'm not going to live with your parents," said Naresh Bhatt.
He then tells the officers "She got the green card already and then she was about to, you know, like..."
The officers ask for his ID. As they wait for him to return to the door, the officers discuss between themselves what to do next since they haven't been able to make contact with Mamta Kafle Bhatt.
"It was her job that called. So call them let them know that they spoke to the husband, it appears they're going through a divorce," one of the officers says as Naresh Bhatt returns to the door.
"She's not at the work," Naresh Bhatt asks.
The officer tells him, "Her employer just called us to check if she was. Ok. So that's why we're here. We don't need to bother you."
"That's fine. She's supposed to be there. You know, usually, like, I don't know... I- I cannot say, you know, like where she goes," said Naresh Bhatt.
The officers continue to speak with him. He tells them how he's trying to sell the home and how she has left numerous times and has lied to him in the past. The officers tell him that she "does end up missing, just call us back," adding that he should contact people who know her to make sure she's not missing.
He continues to tell the officers that Mamta Kafle Bhatt has mental health issues
"I told her like multiple times, let's go to the psychiatrist," said Naresh Bhatt.
The video lasts close to 15 minutes and ends with the officers exchanging contact info with Naresh Bhatt before leaving.
As they leave Naresh Bhatt once again tells them she's in "either New York or Texas".
Naresh Bhatt's trial date on the charge of 'concealing a dead body' is scheduled for December 9. He is due back in court on Friday.
On Sept. 20, a Judge ordered Naresh Bhatt to continue being held with no bond, ruling that there was “overwhelming evidence” to consider Naresh Bhatt a flight risk and danger to the community.
On Friday, his defense attorney filed a motion calling for a Franks vs. Delaware hearing, and for the court to quash the arrest warrant. In court documents obtained by WUSA9, Shalev Ben-Avraham writes that "Mr. Bhatt was never asked to report her missing." He writes that this shows that statements made by the Commonwealth Naresh Bhatt didn't want to file a missing persons' report during the August 2 welfare check are incorrect.
He writes that several false statements were used to obtain the arrest warrant.
In the court documents, he refers to a letter to Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth, from Manassas Park Police Captain Steven Loving. In the letter Captain Loving writes that he had a conversation with Detective Ventura about the criminal complaint, specifically the portion where she mentioned 'Mamta being dragged from the house'.
In the letter, Loving writes:
"Detective Ventura explained that after the magistrate reviewed her complaint, the magistrate advices her to include details about the body being moved from the house. In a rush, she wrote that the body was dragged out of the house. She assumed since the body had been dragged inside the house, it must have also been dragged out of the house. When I asked for evidence supporting the claim that Mamta was dragged out of the house, Detective Ventura acknowledged that she could only prove the body was not in the house but had been dragged from one room to another within the house."
Ben-Avraham writes that "without the false statement, no warrant would have issues and there is no probable cause to hold Mr. Bhatt on this charge, and he should be granted bond."
>Watch the full body camera footage below:
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