Two witnesses,Umesh Sharma and Laxman Singh,were produced in the Sessions court in Ghaziabad on Tuesday in the trail of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar for the murder of their daughter Aarushi Talwar and domestic-aide Hemraj. While the cross-examination of Umesh continued after he was declared hostile by the court on Friday,Laxman Singh was called upon to corroborate the CBIs version of events when Umeshs statement to the CBI was recorded. On Friday,the court had deemed Umesh,a driver employed by the Talwars,hostile after he failed to identify the numbers of the two golf clubs he had transferred from the back of the familys Santro to Hemrajs room about 15 days before the murder. In court,Umesh had said while he did put two golf clubs in Hemrajs room,he could not identify them as golf clubs numbers 4 and 5. On its part,the CBI had argued that in his statement to the CBI under Section 161 of Code of Criminal Procedure,he had clearly stated the numbers of the clubs. The CBI said,therefore,the witness should be deemed hostile,to which the court agreed. On Tuesday,the CBI produced Laxman Singh,who works with the DDA as an upper-divisional clerk,as he was an independent witness when Sharmas statement witness was being recorded by the CBI. Singh told court,When I went to the CBI office,there were four or five people in the room. CBI officer A G L Kaul placed a bag,which had 12 golf sticks,in front of Umesh and he took out two clubs and said these were the ones that he put in Hemrajs room. Whatever Umesh said was typed in front of him and was signed by the three of us (Kaul,Umesh and Singh). CBI officials said it was a common practice to call officials at random to witness processes of identification of evidence. During cross-examination of Singh,the defence counsel said,There is a seal of CFSL on these golf clubs dated November,2009. The statement was taken after that. But Singh has told court that there was no seal on it when the bag was put in front of him. That raises doubts over the actions of the CBI. In their cross-examination of Umesh Sharma,the defence asked him if he had ever seen the golf clubs prior to the murder. He told court,I had never seen them as I never went with Rajesh Talwar when he went to play. The CBI officials took out two sticks and asked me if the sticks I put in Hemrajs room were similar to the ones shown,to which I said yes. Kaul Sahab also asked me if my ear was fine. On Tuesday,Sharma had alleged that during questioning,CBI officer A G L Kaul had slapped him across the ear.
