Aarushi case: Rajesh Talwar suspected by CBI

Noida: The CBI believes that Rajesh Talwar killed his daughter, Aarushi, but decided to close the investigation into the 14-year-old's murder because it did not have enough evidence against him, and could not establish motive.

Sources say that the closure report filed by the CBI in a Ghaziabad court earlier this week lists only Rajesh Talwar in the column of suspects. The 30-page report also accuses the Talwars of trying to influence the doctor who conducted their daughter's post-mortem. The doctor allegedly told the CBI that he got a call from a family member asking him to skip a virginity test. The CBI has said that three domestic helpers who were arrested for the murders of Aarushi and her family's domestic help, Hemraj, were found innocent.

The CBI's decision to end its investigation has yet to be accepted by court. It has caused public outrage, and this morning, Law Minister Veerappa Moily summoned the CBI director and warned him to take the case seriously and to take another look at the case.

Aarushi Talwar, 14, was found dead in her bedroom in Noida on the morning of May 16, 2008. Her throat had been slit while her parents were sleeping in their room next door in their flat in Noida. At first, the Noida police suspected the Talwars' domestic help, Hemraj. However, on May 17, blood stains on the stairs leading to the terrace of the building led to the discovery of Hemraj's dead body.

Exactly a week after her death, Rajesh Talwar, was arrested by the police, which suggested he had killed his daughter because he had found her in a compromising position with Hemraj. Child rights' activists attacked the police for its unfounded and invasive statement. Amid public outrage, and at the request of UP Chief Minister Mayawati, the double murder investigation was then handed to the CBI.

Dr Talwar was released from jail in July 2008 after the CBI admitted it had absolutely no evidence against him. However, both Rajesh Talwar and his wife Nupur, were put through lie detector and brain mapping tests. The tests, according to the CBI, were inconclusive.

Sources in the CBI say that the closure report maintains that any evidence found against Rajesh Talwar was circumstantial. For example, the post-mortem shows Aarushi was killed between midnight and 1 am. Dr Talwar's internet connection shows he was online till midnight, proving he was awake while his daughter was being murdered. The Talwars' home had not been broken into, leading to the theory that the murderer was inside the house, or someone who had easy access to the apartment. In its closure report, the CBI also stresses that when the Noida police discovered Hemraj's body, Dr Talwar was not at home. He refused to return to identify the corpse. However, the Talwars have earlier pointed out that when they were called, they were on their way to Haridwar to perform Aarushi's last rites.

Between June and July 2008, the CBI arrested three domestic helpers who were known to the Talwars. Krishna worked at Rajesh's dental clinic, Raj Kumar was employed by the Talwars' closest friends, the Durranis; and Vijay Mandal worked for a family that lived in the same apartment building as Aarushi. The three men were put through narco-analysis. They did not implicate themselves or each other. The results of brain-mapping and narco-analysis are in any case not admissible as evidence in court.