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On the morning of May 16, 2008(Mon), Aarushi Talwar (May 24, 1993 - May 15, 2008), 14-year-old was

a Class IX student of Delhi Public School in Noida; daughter of a successful dentist couple, was found dead with her throat slit in her parents' home at Jalvayu Vihar in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Suspicion immediately fell on the family's live-in man-servant, Yam Prasad Banjade alias Hemraj, a 45-yr-old Nepalese national, who was found missing from the home. Declaring Hemraj the prime suspect, the Noida police announced a reward of Rs. 20,000 for information leading to Hemraj's apprehension and arrest. In addition, a police party was dispatched to his hometown in Nepal, in hopes of apprehending him there. A post-mortem was conducted on Aarushi's body on May 17, 2008. A retired Noida police officer K.K. Gautam, accompanying a relative of the Talwars, visited the Talwars' home to express his condolences, and during his visit, detected blood stains on the stairs leading to the terrace of the flat. Following the trail of blood, Noida police found the dead body of the missing domestic help, Hemraj, on the terrace. K.K. Gautam said that he saw some clues in Arushi Talwars bedroom. However, he did not reveal the full extent of what he understood he saw. Police investigations were on-going and details could not be revealed for fear of hampering the investigation. After a disorganized investigation, the police arrested Dr. Rajesh Talwar, the father of the deceased girl (works at Fortis Hospital in Noida) on May 23, 2008, charging him with having committed the double murder. His wife, Dr. Nupur Talwar(Arushi Talwars mother, runs a dental clinic), accused the Noida police of framing him, and requested Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation into the murders of Aarushi and Hemraj on June 1, 2008, forming a 25-member team in an attempt to crack the case. Soon after the CBI took over the case, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati gave transfer orders to senior police officers who were part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that had previously been in charge of the investigation, including the Noida Senior Superintendent of Police, Satish Ganesh, and Meerut Inspector General, Gurdarshan Singh. In addition, the deputation of CBI officer Arun Kumar, formerly a member of the Uttar Pradesh Police, who was in charge of the investigation also ended in July, 2008.
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Significance of the Case


The case received nation wide attention, and has become symptomatic of what most people believe are recent unsavoury tendencies in the Indian media, such as sensationalism , the urge to "overkill" and to carry out a public trial-by-media. The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Renuka Chowdhury, condemned the police for what she called the "character assassination" of a child victim and called for a commission of legal experts to investigate whether specific legislation existed or needed to passed in order to allow filing of defamation suits against the
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Noida police, a government agency. In addition, the focus by 24-hour cable news on speculative aspects of the personal lives of the father and his dead daughter, and the media frenzy that compromised the privacy of the families involved in the case has caused comparisons to be made to the JonBenet Ramsey case in the United States. The case has also attracted a lot of public attention as a bizarrewhodunit,
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with the CBI reporting that the agency had been receiving a large number of

telephone calls from members of the general public, giving investigators ideas and advice on how to solve the case. In addition, the story hit the blog-o-sphere in a major way with many Indian bloggers avidly and enthusiastically blogging about the murder mystery
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Shoddy Investigation
CBI investigators charged the Noida police with a shoddy investigation, which, it claimed, had resulted in the destruction of 90% of the evidence on the crime scene. The reasons for this sdy investigation should be investigated. Perhaps, the reasons lie in the lack of trained staff to conduct a fool proof investigation, not only in Uttar Pradesh but in the entire country. Aside from not capturing the finger prints on the whisky bottles in Hemraj's room, the police allowed the media to freely roam the crime scene rather than restricting access to the flat. In addition, the police allowed doctors, not specifically trained in forensic pathology, to conduct the autopsies of Hemraj and Aarushi. While it is established procedure to lift fingerprints (of both murderers and victims) from the skin of the victims.
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the doctors entrusted with the autopsies

neglected to call forensic scientists to lift fingerprints from the cadavers. On August 11, 2008, the CBI reported that it had evidence pointing to the presence of a fifth person in the house at the time of the murders, as finger prints not matching any of the suspects or occupants of the house were found on the whisky bottles. Experts at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), who are working closely with the CBI, have raised questions over one entry in Arushis post mortem report. The report, dated May 16 and prepared by Sunil Dore for the Noida police, mentions whitish discharge from the vagina which AIIMS doctors say wasnt investigated. They have raised this issue with the CBI. It is the duty of the doctors and the investigating officer to collect all biological evidence. As per law, it is mandatory to write about it in the post mortem report which is legal evidence. But in this case no further investigation was done on the evidence that they got from natural orifices, Sudhir Gupta, associate professor, forensic medicine, AIIMS, told The Indian Express. The post mortem report says that various organs including stomach with contents, samples from small intestine, gall bladder, spleen and one kidney were preserved, sealed and sent for examination to rule out poisoning.

However, the report doesnt mention whether a vaginal swab was sent for further investigation, said Gupta. The whitish discharge could be attributed to several causes, from a fungal infection, common at this age, to even sexual assault. But in a murder case, this was a serious biological finding which required deliberation. No such type of biological evidence was collected and sealed by the doctor who prepared the autopsy, he added. CBI on Closure Report The Central Bureau of Investigation has told court that Dr Rajesh Talwar remains the prime suspect in the murder of his daughter Aarushi and their servant Hemraj, but cannot be chargesheeted because of "insufficient evidence". In its closure report submitted to the Ghaziabad court, the agency has catalogued circumstantial evidence strongly pointing to Dr Talwar's alleged role in the double murder, as also the reason why the agency failed to connect the dots and could not have chargesheeted him. "Talwars have not been cleared. The probe cannot go beyond them," said sources in the agency who are familiar with the contents of the report filed under Section 173 of the CrPC on Wednesday. The decision to file the closure report was taken following legal opinion by the agency as well as an external expert. Sources say, the CBI is prepared to further investigate Dr Talwar if directed by the court to follow the circumstantial evidence placed on record. The possibility of the dentist being probed afresh increased on Friday evening after CBI chief A P Singh had a discussion with Union law minister M Veerappa Moily. Singh agreed to Moily's request to have a re-look at the chain of events and the circumstantial evidence in the brutal double murder, sources said. Sources in the agency emphasised that unlike in an "unoccured case" where a closure report is filed because the incident under investigation was not found to have occurred, the report filed in the Aarushi case does not shut the possibility of renewed investigation if a new, strong evidence comes up. Pinaki Mishra, Dr Talwar's counsel, strongly reacted to the closure report, calling it a pack of innuendos. "This is the most unfair verdict that could have been given. They (Talwars) are being pronounced guilty until proved innocent. Without having filed a chargesheet, the CBI is condemning them to live the life of a guilty. I have no doubt that the entire investigation is derailed by taking the line of UP police - just damn them without evidence," he said. The CBI does not debunk the defence of Talwars completely, with sources acknowledging that the probe failed to establish the motive behind the murder. They also said the dummy run conducted by them to verify Talwars' claim that they could not have heard of what was happening in the next room because of noise from their AC, shows that they could have slept through the crime. It also says the narco tests run on the couple show only "minor deceptions". But the report lists "circumstantial evidence" to say why they continue to treat Dr Rajesh Talwar as the prime suspect in the case. Sources claim the "circumstantial evidence" is so strong that Dr Talwar could have been chargesheeted had he not been a parent. The closure report says the crime scene was "dressed up" before the police was called -- something that is not associated with a regular criminal.

Second, it says the private parts of Arushi had been cleaned up. It is not known whether the closure report speculates about the reason. Third, the closure report speaks of an attempt to fix the post-mortem report to ensure that there is no mention of rape. It says that Dr Dinesh Talwar, Rajesh's brother, made Dr Sunil Dohre of the Noida Hospital, who was conducting the autopsy, speak with a person he introduced as Dr T D Dogra, head of the department of forensic medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The person told Dohre that no mention of rape was needed. CBI, however, found out from Dr Dogra, a renowned authority, that he never spoke with Dohre. Fourth, Talwars did not tell the CBI about the golf club that was suspected to have been used to Aarushi and Hemraj because of the nature of injuries. Fifth, the door of Aarushi's room had the kind of lock that is in hotel rooms -- it could have been opened from inside or with a key from outside. Nupur Talwar had the key to her room. Sixth, there was no sign of forced entry either into her room or Talwars' house. Seventh, CBI also focuses on the behaviour of Talwars on the morning of May 17. It has detailed the sequence of events since 6 am when their maid Bharti rang the bell. Usually, Hemraj would open the gate and let her in. On that morning, it was Nupur Talwar who appeared in the balcony and threw the key towards her, adding that Hemraj may have gone out. Nupur had looked completely calm. Within three minutes, however, both she and her spouse were loudly crying and telling Bharti "dekho Hemraj ne kya kar diya". The closure report says that Bharti found Dr Talwar sitting in Aarushi's room. Significantly, her body was found wrapped in a sheet. Eighth, Talwar ignored those who wanted to go to the terrace where Hemraj's body was found the following day. The terrace which always remained open was found to be locked the day after the crime. Talwars declined to identify the body. Ninth, the cuts on the neck of the two victims could have been caused only by a professional -someone who was trained to use scalpel. A second opinion suggested that they could have also been caused by a kukri. In this case, the one recovered on Krishna, one of the servants who was a suspect, had no blood stain. CBI has stressed that the three servants -- Raj Kumar, Krishna and Vijay Mandal -- had perfect alibis. There was also no evidence of telephonic conversation between them, virtually eliminating the possibility that they were part of a conspiracy. As for its failure to get evidence strong enough to back up their suspicion, the CBI says the DNA sample was too contaminated to yield reliable evidence. Sources said, the agency tried even using the advanced DNA touch forensic methodology, but without success. Three of the four experts with Scotland Yard it contacted held that the DNA touch could not be of any use in this case. Hyderbad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology concurred. Sources said that Noida police's failure to secure the crime scene was another reason why the agency was left only with circumstantial evidence. Blood stain on the whisky bottle found in Talwars'

house did not match the samples of either Aarushi or Hemraj. The report asserts that both Aarushi and Hemraj died of injuries from a blunt weapon, and that the cuts on their neck were post-mortem; inflicted when they were already dead. [edit]Timeline May 16, 2008  Aarushi Talwar, daughter of a dentist couple, found dead with her throat slit in the bedroom of her flat in Jalvayu Vihar.  Based on the Talwars' claim, missing domestic help Hemraj (Nepalese national) suspected of murder. May 17, 2008   Hemraj's body found on the terrace of Talwar's house. Noida Sector-20 police Station Officer (S.O.) Dataram Nauneria shifted for lapses in investigations.  Autopsy report rules out sexual assault.

of the Case

May 18, 2008   Police say murders done with surgical precision; insider job suspected. Superintendent of Police (City) Mahesh Mishra transferred.

May 19, 2008  Talwar's former Nepalese domestic help Vishnu Sharma named suspect.

May 21, 2008  Delhi Police join murder probe; police say murder committed by a "doctor or a butcher".

May 22, 2008   Family under suspicion; honor killing angle probed Police quiz Aarushi's close friend, whom she spoke to 688 times in the 45 days preceding her murder. May 23, 2008  Aarushi's father Dr. Rajesh Talwar arrested for the two murders.

June 13, 2008

The Nepalese compounder of Dr. Rajesh Talwar, Krishna (alias Kishan) arrested by CBI. The arrest follows polygraph test and Narco Analysis test at Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Bangalore the day before. He was earlier subjected to polygraph test twice at Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Delhi as well as psychological assessment test at AIIMS, New Delhi on June 9, 2008; based on the test results, CBI arrested Krishna.

June 14, 2008  Krishna the compounder of Dr. Rajesh Talwar produced before the duty magistrate, district courts, Ghaziabad. CBI requests for 14 days police custody of Krishna for further investigation. The Magistrate grants 3 days police custody remand. He is to be produced before the Special Magistrate for CBI cases at Ghaziabad on June 17, 2008. A CBI team had earlier conducted a search at Krishna's former premises at Jalvayu Vihar, Noida and seized some clothing and other materials for forensic examination. Rajkumar, the Nepalese domestic help of the Duranis, was subjected to polygraph test at CFSL, Delhi. June 19, 2008  Judicial custody of Dr. Rajesh Talwar extended up to July 2, 2008. An application is moved for a second lie detection test of Dr. Rajesh Talwar, as his first lie detection test remained inconclusive. A lie detector test is also conducted on Vijay Mandal, the domestic help of a neighbor of the Talwars. June 17, 2008  Krishna produced before special magistrate, CBI court, Ghaziabad. CBI applies for further 11 days police custody remand to continue the investigation. The magistrate grants 6 days police custody. He is to be produced before the CBI magistrate, Ghaziabad on June 23, 2008.  A team accompanied by a forensic expert search the room where Rajkumar used to live in Sector 53, Noida. Material seized from the room on June 13, 2008 is forensically examined. June 20, 2008  Lie detection test of Dr. Rajesh Talwar conducted at CFSL, Delhi.

June 23, 2008  Krishna produced before the special magistrate, CBI courts, Ghaziabad. CBI requests further custody of Krishna for 4 days for further interrogation and recovery of weapon. The magistrate passes an order extending his police custody by 4 days. He is to be produced before the Court on June 27, 2008. June 25, 2008

Second lie detection test conducted on Dr. Nupur Talwar. Her first lie detection test was found inconclusive.

June 26, 2008  The CBI declares the case to be a "blind case". Dr. Rajesh Talwar refused bail by the special magistrate, CBI courts, Ghaziabad. June 27, 2008  Krishna taken to Talwars' residence by the CBI and thereafter produced before the special magistrate, where his bail plea is rejected once again. The Talwars' family friends Duranis' Nepalese domestic help Rajkumar arrested on the suspicion of involvement in the murder. Washed T-shirts with faint human blood stains seized and sent for DNA matching. However, the Duranis (doctors themselves) maintain that the stains could be from the boils that Rajkumar had on his body. Rajkumar had already been subjected to polygraph test, psychological assessment, brain mapping and narco analysis at FSL, Gandhinagar from June 23 to June 26, 2008. June 28, 2008  Rajkumar produced before special magistrate, CBI court, Ghaziabad and is sent to police custody for 14 days. June 30, 2008  Krishna's lawyer approaches a Ghaziabad court for bail. Bail is refused as the court that was approached does not have sufficient powers in this case.  CBI joint director in charge of the investigation, Arun Kumar, is recalled to his original cadre in Uttar Pradesh. June 31, 2008  News channel AAJ TAK, airs reports that Vijay Mandal, a new face, is also involved in the Noida double murder. July 2, 2008  Dr. Rajesh Talwar is produced before special magistrate, CBI court, Ghaziabad again. His bail plea is rejected and his judicial custody extended till July 11, 2008. CBI says he is still among the suspects. July 3, 2008

The Supreme court of India rejects a public interest litigation (PIL) case challenging the administration of narco-analysis test on the accused. A bench headed by Justice Altamas Kabir refuses to hear the petion, as the petitioner, a lawyers' body, was an unregistered entity.

July 6, 2008  An English daily


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reveals that on the night the murders were committed, the couple Dr. Rajesh

and Dr. Nupur left their flat around midnight and came back around 5 AM. They were at a high society party for which 12 suites were booked in a posh South Delhi hotel. July 7, 2008  Dr. Nupur Talwar refutes the allegations regarding their absence on the night of the murders. She also expresses her intention to take legal action against the media house.  CBI releases an official statement on their site, stating, "A section of media has reported quoting CBI sources that Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Dr. Nupur Talwar were not present in their house on the night of 15th May, 2008 and more than a dozen rooms were booked in a hotel in Delhi. It is clarified that the news item is speculative and not true. Investigation of the case is progressing diligently."  Some other TV channels debate the merits of her and CBI's affirmations in the light of glaring gaps in the Talwars' story. July 9, 2008  Rajkumar, the domestic help of the Durranis, is subjected by CBI to a second narco-analysis test at FSL Bangalore. July 10, 2008  News reports on some TV channels suggest that the CBI has had a breakthrough on Rajkumar as the culprit and has confessed during the narco-analysis test. He is learned to have committed the murder along with Krishna, Sambhu and Hemraj. The reason for the first murder, as told by Rajkumar, was lust and Hemraj was killed for fear that he might have disclosed information. July 11, 2008  Vijay Mandal (alias Sambhu) the servant one of the neighbors of the Talwars is arrested by the CBI.  In a press conference, Arun Kumar, Joint Director CBI, states that the CBI is awaiting DNA matching of washed blood stains on Rajkumar's T-shirts. He confirms that the CBI still consideres this a blind case and expresses the hope that the case will be solved soon.

Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Krishna appear before a special CBI court, Ghaziabad to seek bail. Their petitions are heard and Dr. Rajesh Talwar is released on bail, for lack of evidence. Eminent criminal lawyer R. K. Anand undertakes the defence of Krishna.

CBI believes two or three domestic helps and Krishna to be the prime suspects. However, the forensic evidence is not admissible as evidence in the court.

The murder weapon and the two cellphones respectively of Aarushi and Hemraj are still missing.

July 12, 2008  Dr. Rajesh Talwar is freed on bail from the Dasna Jail in Ghaziabad. The news of his release brings back widespread media attention to the case.  Vijay Mandal is sent to 3-days' CBI custody by the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Dinesh Kumar in Ghaziabad. the Indian Penal Code (IPC). July 15, 2008  Vijay Mandal's police custody extended for four more days.
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Vijay Mandal has been accused under 302, 201, 120(B) of

The CBI expected to find the

murder weapon and the cellphones of Aarushi and Hemraj with Mandal's help. July 16, 2008  An association of Nepalese citizens alleges that Krishna and Rajkumar are being pressurized to make confessional statements. July 18, 2008  CBI has not seized any evidence and is yet to receive a crucial forensic report on accused Rajkumar, according to media reports. It has weakened the case against the three prime suspects Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal. The CBI claims near closing of the case when preliminary reports from Hyderabad's Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, suggests that identifying the blood on the T-shirt "may or may not be possible", according to media reports.
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Separating DNA from garments after a lapse of two months is not always possible,

because of the disintegration of the red blood cells on the cloth. July 19, 2008  Vijay Mandal sent into police custody for four more days.

July 21  Rastriya Jana Morcha (RJM) chairman Chitra Bahadur K.C. alleges that the two Nepalese nationals Krishna Thapa and Rajkumar were falsely accused by the CBI in the case,[14] in order to save Dr. Rajesh Talwar. The party has decided to raise the issue in the Nepalese parliament. The

party will also approach the Nepalese government and the national human rights commission to save the two. July 22, 2008  A bench comprising of Justice Altmas Kabir and Justice Markandey Katju of the supreme court of India instructs the media to be careful
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in te context of the hearing of a public interest lawsuit

that has raises questions on the media coverage of the high-profile murder case. In the probe, the character of the victim's parents was hotly debated, especially that of Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar who was arrested initially as the main accused. However, no adverse observations were made about the compounder Krishna and the other two domestic helps Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal. A distinction seems to have been made according to the accused persons' class and national identities. July 25, 2008  The Police custody of the accused Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal is extended till August 8. The three accused are brought to the Ghaziabad court handcuffed and linked by a rope. The judge objects to the inhuman treatment of the accused and the police officer tenders his apologies. July 31, 2008  A Hindi channel Aaj Tak airs a news report alleging that Vijay Mandal was drilled with leading information, prior to the narco-analysis tests. Further, there are allegations that Mandal's confessions during the narco-analysis tests have many gaps. August 8, 2008  The Police custody of the accused Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal is extended for 14 more days, as they are now considered the prime accused. August 9, 2008  CBI director Ashwani Kumar says
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the case is still unsolved, as many important corroborative

pieces of evidence are yet to be found. However, he fully accepts that it is important that Dr. Rajesh Talwar be exonerated or the sanctity of our family structure will be been challenged. September 4, 2009 The Central Forensic Laboratory in Hyderabad releases a report that Aarushi's vaginal samples were substituted with those of an unknown woman. The correct samples could have helped to establish who killed the teenager, and whether she was sexually assaulted before being stabbed. The clothes that Aarushi was found in were soaked in blood. But the forensic lab received clean clothes.

September 14, 2009 Delhi police recovers Aarushi's mobile phone in Bulandshahr. (ref) India TV news 16/7/09 Jan 5, 2010.  CBI Moves Court to conduct Narco test on Talwar Couple.
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May 16, 2010.  A prayer meet is conducted by the Talwars in remembrance of their dead daughter Aarushi who was killed on May 16, 2008. July 21, 2010.  Dr.Rajesh Talwar moves the court to have a restraint order passed against the unethical and misleading information being published by some print media outlets.  CBI reportedly seeking help of foreign forensic labs to crack the two year old case.

December 29, 2010  CBI files closure report in Aarushi murder case. The closure report filed in Ghaziabad court says Rajesh Talwar is the sole suspect, and that Krishna, Raj Kumar and Mandal are completely cleared. January 3, 2011  Ghaziabad court examines the validity of the closure report by CBI citing inadequate evidence against the suspects in the double murder case.[19] As per CBI, the prime suspect is still Rajesh Talwar however the motive of this killing is still unknown. January 25, 2011  Arushi's father, Dr. Rajesh Talwar, is attacked outside court with a cleaver by a youth called Utsav Sharma in protest against CBI's decision to recall the case and that Utsav was upset that Talwar was not convicted. Utsav had also in protest attacked former police chief S.P.S. Rathore of the Ruchika Girhotra case in February 2010 . January 30, 2011  People from all walks of life get together to protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi to press for Justice in the case. Chandigarh based Middle Finger Protests, also known as "Human Rights Protection Group" (credited for its efforts in the movie "No One Killed Jessica") surprised everyone with their presence and banners that read "CBI - Central Bureau of Injustice" and "CBI - Congress Bureau of Investigation". The founder of the group was personally present along with the newly appointed
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volunteers from Delhi. The group appreciated the fact that the protests in Delhi were initiated by a young girl and her friends. February 09, 2011  The special CBI court on Wednesday made Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar accused in the Aarushi murder case. The Court has also issued summons against Aarushi's parents, accusing them of murder and criminal conspiracy under IPC 302 and 34. The next date for hearing has been fixed as February 28.

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