New Delhi:
The CBI's closure report in the Aarushi Talwar murder case has sparked a great deal of anger and outrage.
In the report submitted to a Ghaziabad court, the investigation agency has declared Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar as the lone suspect in the murder of his daughter and his domestic help Hemraj. It, however, admitted that it couldn't find any evidence against him, and that a motive could not be established.
(Read: CBI gives up with closure report)So why exactly did the CBI fall short of chargesheeting Dr Rajesh Talwar for murder? The answer lies in page 29 of the report where it lists the shortcomings of the evidence it gathered.
WHAT CBI CLOSURE REPORT SAYS
- The report says Hemraj's blood was not found anywhere on the scene of crime. It was only on the steps to the terrace. Only Aarushi's blood was found on Rajesh Talwar's clothes
- CBI says the murder weapon could be the golf club but could not find any blood stain or DNA of victims from it. The Talwars surrendered it a year later to the agency
- While there is a clear fingerprint on the whisky bottle that the CBI says the murderer drank from after the killings, they could not identify it
- The investigating agency says it doesn't know the exact sequence of events on the night of the murders
- The CBI has no answer to why the SIM card of Hemraj's mobile phone was last traced to Punjab three days after the murder
- The agency said it could not recover the cloth used to clean blood from the crime scene or the sheet used to drag Hemraj's body to the roof
All that CBI has is circumstantial evidence which reveals what they call 'suspicious behaviour' of the parents after the murder. Aarushi's parents, however, insist the CBI's version is completely concocted.
(Read: The CBI closure report in Aarushi murder case)
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Aarushi's father Dr Rajesh Talwar said, "I have had enough of this. This is the second time I am going through this. This is what they do to innocent people, innocent father who has lost his child."
(Aarushi Talwar's parents: CBI allegations absurd)"I cannot understand this kind of investigative agency. I have no words for them," a visibly upset Rajesh Talwar added.
By blaming her husband, Aarushi's mother Nupur alleged, the CBI is trying to cover up its own shabby investigation.
Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found dead in her room on the morning of May 16, 2008. Hemraj was discovered dead on the Talwars' terrace a few hours later.
Rajesh, a dentist, was arrested a week after his daughter's death two years ago, but was released two months later after investigators admitted they had absolutely no evidence against him. Now, once again, the CBI blames Rajesh and suggests that his wife helped him destroy evidence.
Both Rajesh Talwar and his wife Nupur have over the last few years been put through lie detector and brain mapping tests. The tests, by the CBI's admission, were inconclusive.
When Aarushi was found dead in her bedroom in Noida in May 2008, her parents told the UP police that their domestic help, Hemraj, was missing. However, hours later, blood stains on the stairs leading to the terrace of the building led to the discovery of Hemraj's dead body.
The CBI now claims that the Talwars tried to divert the police's attention after Aarushi was found dead by sending them to look for Hemraj. The agency believes that the parents during this time destroyed evidence in their home.
However, Nupur points out that as soon as her daughter's body was discovered, the Noida police took over the investigation and the Talwar home. The CBI adds that a wound on Aarushi's head seemed to have been caused by a golf club used by Rajesh and that the Talwars took a year to hand it over to investigators. Refuting that, Nupur said that she voluntarily submitted the club to the CBI even though she had never been asked for it.
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.
(Read: Timeline of the case) 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.
The biggest problem for the CBI is listed in the last part of the closure report that says there is no eye-witness to the crime and that the motive could not be established. So the CBI felt it had to close the case. But it decision is yet to be accepted by the court, that will take up the report on Monday.