Kochi: Father Jose Putarika, a priest accused in the 1992 murder of Sister Abhaya, was denied bail by the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate court here yesterday as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said its probe was drawing to a close soon.

The CBI counsel told the court that the two priests and a nun arrested were the culprits and that it has scientific evidence against them.

Sister Abhaya was found dead in the well of the Kottayam convent on March 27, 1992.