Court to decide tomorrow on CBI closure report in Aarushi case

A Special CBI Court here today reserved its order for tomorrow on the agency's closure report in the Aarushi murder case following over three hours of argument during which the CBI claimed that circumstantial evidence points to the parents of the dead teenager.

CBI counsel R K Saini opposed the protest petition filed by Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar against the CBI closure report during the last hearing on January 25.
Saini said there was nothing left in the case and there was no scope of further investigation.

He also said that the Investigating Officer of the case has ruled out involvement of servants or any intruders. Saini said, "The circumstantial evidence in IO's probe puts suspicion on parents' role but in all fairness he has also admitted weakness in successful prosecution in the case".

Talwar's counsel Satish Tamta said there were many lapses in the CBI investigation and stressed on the need to conduct low count DNA procedure, which involves the testing of genetic material.

Saini said the agency has sought opinion from four labs, including one in the UK. "Three labs said that it is not possible as samples are highly contaminated while one UK-based lab with which the Talwars were in touch said they could do it but it was found through Interpol that it was not registered there," he said.

Amid heated discussion, Tamta also produced a pillow cover which he claimed was Aarushi's and was not seized by the CBI. However, the pillow cover did not have any blood stains.

Talwar's lawyer said the stance of the CBI has changed as the investigating team changed.

He claimed certain leads had emerged in the narco-analysis test of domestic helps which were not pursued. He also said the CBI made certain observations related to the private parts of the deceased which have not been mentioned in the post-mortem report.

Talwar's counsel claimed that the CBI leaked information about the closure of case to the media before filing of the report in the court on December 29 last year. The advocate said more investigation should be made regarding the victim's bed and pillow cover to reach a final decision.

The court of Special CBI Magistrate Preeti Singh, which heard the matter, reserved its order for tomorrow morning.

14-year-old Aarushi was found murdered with her throat slit in her parents' home at Jalvayu Vihar in Noida on May 16, 2008. The family's domestic help Hemraj was found killed on the terrace of the flat the following day.