JOIN USCBI names father in Aarushi case
As the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sought a closure of the case on Wednesday, the events took another turn with reports of Aarushi’s father, Rajesh Talwar, being named the lone suspect in the case. The closure report also mentions that a Talwar family member called the doctor, who conducted the autopsy, to influence him.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, the parents of Aarushi—who was murdered at her Noida home on May 16, 2008—came down heavily on the CBI for blaming and maligning them, though the investigating agency had failed to reach any conclusion.
“I have no understanding of this bizarre investigating agency. I have opened my life to them. I have undergone all narco tests for them,” Rajesh Talwar said in an interview to a private TV channel.
In its 30-page closure report submitted to a Ghaziabad court, the CBI had said the Tawlars had Aarushi’s room washed up after asking the UP police to rush to the railway station to nab their domestic help—Hemraj—on May 16. Hemraj’s body was found on the terrace the next day.
Reacting to the allegation, Nupur said: “It’s an absolutely bizarre and absurd allegation by the CBI. We are the one pushing for the investigations.” Accusing the CBI of a “cover-up” of the shoddy probe by the UP police, Nupur said neither she nor her husband even knew where the postmortem was being conducted. The UP police had taken over the crime scene early morning when the body of their daughter was found.
The CBI said the dimension of the wound on Aarushi’s head was similar to the one on a golf club owned by Rajesh. The club was handed over by the couple after intense grilling a year after the incident.
However, Nupur claimed that she was the one who produced the golf club on her own and that the CBI had never asked for it.
“The conduct of the parents has been suspicious,” the CBI, which has come under intense criticism in the wake of its closure report, said.
The report said Talwar was named an accused but could not be chargesheeted because of “insufficient evidence.” Asked why the CBI had not proceeded against Rajesh and Nupur on the basis of their findings, senior CBI officials said that they could not zero in on any motive behind the murder.
The CBI could not proceed on the circumstantial evidence merely on the basis of conjectures. About the three servants—Krishna, Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal—the report said they were found to be innocent during the investigations and hence the case against the trio should be treated as closed.
The report while detailing the case said there were no witnesses in the case other than the parents and Hemraj. While the crime scene had not been preserved at all, the CBI, which took up the case on June 1, 2008, said things were pretty normal at Talwar’s residence till 10:30 pm on the fateful day as suggested in a video camera.
The father was hooked on the internet till midnight, the report said. The CBI also highlighted the fact that it was unlikely that the murderer could have killed the victim and then wrapped her body properly in a bed sheet.
The report claimed that the dentist had asked UP police team to rush after Hemraj rather than giving them sufficient time to secure the scene of crime. It also claimed that Rajesh had failed to immediately identify the body of Hemraj found on the terrace.
It mentioned that there was no forced entry into the house. Even the door of Aarushi was like that of a hotel room, which could be opened either from inside or with a key from outside. The keys of the room were with the mother of the victim, the report said. The narco-analysis and polygraph tests of the dentist couple were “inconclusive,” it said.