Gate of Talwars' flat locked from outside: Maid

CBI witness and part-time maid Bharti Mandal told a special court here on Monday that she found the main gate of murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar’s flat locked from the outside on the day her killing was detected.

After several knocks on the gate in the morning, Aarushi’s mother Nupur woke up and gave her a duplicate key for the lock on the gate, Mandal told CBI special judge S Lal.

Mandal said she told Nupur Talwar that their domestic help Hemraj was not responding to her knocks.

The part-time maid said on entering the house, she found Rajesh Talwar and his wife grieving over their daughter’s murder.

During their cries, they were saying Hemraj had done it and fled, Mandal said, claiming that she then left the spot.

After Mandal’s testimony, the defence lawyer said they did not want to cross-examine her.

On a defence plea, the court directed the probe agency to disclose in advance the name of the witness they intended to present in court.

Nupur Talwar was taken into custody on April 30 and she challenged in the apex court the May 31 Allahabad High Court order rejecting her bail plea. She is lodged in Dasna jail in Ghaziabad. Her husband is out on bail.