Aarushi-Hemraj murder: The other characters in the case

Who is he? Constable Pawan Kumar was the first policeman to reach the crime scene minutes after Nupur Talwar reportedly found Aarushi’s body in the morning of May 16. He was posted at the chowki at sector 25 and rushed to the house after a guard of Jalvayu Vihar came to the chowki saying a “murder has taken place at L-32.”

What did he say in court?Kumar told court on January 23,2013 that he was on duty at night on May 15 and his shift ended at 5 am. He then went to the Sector 20 police station to hand in his weapon,and went back to the chowki for a cup of tea. “A security guard came and said a murder had taken place at L-32,Jalvayu Vihar. I went to the house with the security guard on my motorcycle,” Kumar told court.

Kumar said he reached the house at 6:45 am in the morning. “The front door was locked from the inside,and Rajesh Talwar came to the door when I rang the bell. When I saw the room in which the body was kept,I saw that the victim’s throat was slit. There was a white sheet over her body,but her face was uncovered. The behaviour of the family seemed normal but worried.

It is wrong to say that members of the family were crying when I was at the house,” Kumar said.

Where is he now? Kumar is now posted at Malpura in Agra.

Gurdarshan Singh

Who is he? Singh was then posted as Inspector General of Police,Meerut Range. A week after the murders,Singh held a press conference which was to spark outrage in several quarters. Singh not only accused Rajesh Talwar of committing the murder,but also said that he was having an affair and this was the genesis of the motive. “His extramarital affair was known to both Hemraj and Aarushi. The two used to discuss this and became close. Dr. Rajesh could not tolerate though his character was not good. Dr Rajesh Talwar walked into Aarushi’s room and saw them in an objectionable though not compromising position. He killed her in a fit of rage though his character was as poor as his daughter,” Singh told the media on May 23,2008.

What did he say in court? He never deposed in court as the CBI did not produce him as a prosecution witness. The allegations of a extra marital relationship were never proved nor was any evidence put forth.

Vijay Kumar

Who is he? Vijay Kumar was the first CBI investigation officer to take charge of the case on June 1,2008. It was his team that first arrested Krishna (Rajesh Talwar’s compounder),Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal (both domestic helps in other homes) for the murders.

What did he say in court? Kumar was not among the 39 witnesses that the CBI put forth,but was in fact a defence witness. On April 2,2013,Kumar told the court of additional sessions judge Shyam Lal that Krishna had “admitted” to the murders during interrogation but gave differing statements,which is why his account could not conclusively establish that he committed the murders. “Krishna’s lie detection test was conducted at CFSL Delhi but I don’t remember exactly what date it was. I received a report on the test and according to it,his responses were ‘deceptive’ on some points. Krishna’s brain mapping,narco analysis and polygraph tests were conducted at FSL Bangalore and his complicity in the crime was indicated in the results. Based on his statements to us,we recovered a khukri from his room. But at certain times he said he used a khukri for the murder,and at others he said he used a knife or a blade,” Kumar had told court.

The next day,Kumar appeared again and contradicted the accounts of key prosecution witnesses in the case. For instance,Kumar told court that Mahesh Kumar Mishra,the SP of Noida in 2008 had told him when his statement was being recorded by the CBI that “Dattaram Nauneria,the SHO of the Sector 20 police station,had told him that the key couldn’t be found,and they had forgotten to break open the lock (of the terrace where Hemraj’s body was found a day later).” Mishra,however,in his account to court had said that Nauneria told him that Rajesh Talwar was refusing to hand over the keys,and a mechanic couldn’t be found on May 16.

Where is he now? Kumar retired from the CBI in 2012.

AGL Kaul

Who is he?Took over investigations in September 2009 and treated Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar as the prime accused. In December 2010,however,filed a closure report where he said that while Rajesh Talwar was the prime accused,there was not enough evidence for the CBI to file a chargesheet.

In February 2011,a Ghaziabad court rejected the closure report and decried that there was enough evidence for a case. It directed that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar be tried for the murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic aide Hemraj in the intervening night of May 15 and 16,2008.

What did he say in court? Kaul told court on April 16,2013 that during his investigations he found that the murders could not have been committed by an outsider,and Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were guilty of the crime. He further said that the crime scene had been dressed up,“The bed on which Aarushi’s body was found did not have a single crease on it. There was no stream of blood from the cut on Aarushi’s neck,and there was a spot of wetness on the sheet that covered her. Hemraj’s body on the terrace was covered with a panel and the terrace door was locked from the side leading to the stairs.” He added that the weapon which caused similar injuries to the heads of Aarushi and Hemraj was a golf club. “A set of golf sticks were sent to CFSL New Delhi for forensic analysis which found that two golf sticks were cleaner than the others. One of the golf sticks matched the wounds on the two victims. I had identified the golf sticks during my questioning of Rajesh Talwar’s driver who had said that he had put these two golf sticks in Hemraj’s room,” he told court.

He also told court that while he wanted to frame charges,“seniors in the CBI” advised against it,which is why he eventually filed a closure report.

Where is he now? AGL Kaul serves as Additional SP(Special Crime) in the CBI in Delhi.

Bharti Mandal

Who is she? Bharti Mandal is the maid employed by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar. She is a lynchpin of the prosecution theory as her account reportedly gives credence to the theory that only four people (Rajesh Talwar,Nupur Talwar,Aarushi and Hemraj) were in the house on the fateful night.

What did she say in court? Bharti told court on September 3,2012 that when she came to the house,she found the outer grill door shut. “It was only after I rang the bell for the third time that Aunty (Nupur Talwar) came to the wooden door,which is some feet away,and spoke to me through that. She told me that Hemraj must have gone to fetch milk and locked the door from outside. I asked if she had the keys,and she said she would throw them down from a balcony. When I stood below the balcony,she said the door must be open and just latched. I asked her to throw down the keys anyway so that I would not have to climb down again (if it was locked). But when I went back to the main grill door,it opened without any key. I then opened the latch to the second grill door which is adjacent to the wooden door and went inside,” she said.

Bharti also told court that in the time it took for her to enter the home again,Nupur seemed to have discovered the body and put a sheet over the body. “I thought that robbers must have come into the house because they were crying. When I asked Aunty why she was crying,she held me,started crying and said ‘Come inside and see what has happened’. She took me to Aarushi’s room. I stood outside. She removed the bedsheet covering Aarushi,and showed me that her throat was slit. I got scared. Aunty again said

‘Look what Hemraj has done’,” Bharti told court.

In the process of the cross examination by the defence on September 4 however,Mandal told the court that “jo mujhe samjhaaya gaya hai,main vahi bayaan de rahi hoon (I am saying whatever I have been made to understand).”

This statement was then used by the defence later to show that the witness had been tutored.

Where is she now? Mandal worked in homes in Noida until one week ago.

Dattaram Nauneria

Who is he? Nauneria was the first investigating officer in the case and the Station House Officer of the Noida sector 20 police station,the relevant police station. It was under him that the Noida Police conducted its investigation,and received flak for the lack of care in preserving evidence. There were no restrictions placed on movement of people in both crime scenes,the bedroom and the terrace,where Hemraj’s body was found a day later.

What did he say in court? Nauneria told court in September 2012 that there was no grief on the faces of the Talwar family. Also told court that Rajesh Talwar hesitated in identifying Hemraj and the body was only recognised by two other people. He told court that it seemed a water cooler panel was used to try and hide Hemraj’s body on the roof. This panel became one of the basis for the addition of the charge of destruction of evidence against Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

In his cross examination,he admitted that the panel had never been seized.

Also revealed that on May 16,he went upstairs and found blood on the lock of the terrace door,but didn’t break it open,ostensibly because a ‘mechanic’ couldn’t be found.

Where is he now? He is posted as Sub Inspector,Gangoh,Saharanpur.

BK Mahapatra

Who is he? Senior biologist with the CFSL. Mahapatra was crucial to the CBI’s case,as he examined several of the important exhibits recovered from the crime scene. This includes pillow and pillow covers received from Aarushi’s room,a Ballantine scotch bottle as well as other evidence collected from the roof of the Jalvayu Vihar flat.

What did he say in court? In August 2012,Mahapatra told court that there was evidence of male DNA that had been found on Aarushi Talwar’s pillow and pillow cover. He also told court that the bloodstains on the Ballantine scotch bottle were had both male and female DNA. The partial DNA match,also matches with DNA found in Aarushi’s bedroom as well as a partial bloodstained palm print taken from the terrace. However,Mahapatra’s role was not to identify the DNA as that fell under the purview of scientists from CDFD,Hyderabad.

Where is he now? Mahapatra still serves as senior biologist,CFSL.

SPR Prasad

Who is he? Senior technical Examiner with CDFD Hyderabad. He spoke to court on the identification of DNA from samples. Also played a role in shedding light on the pivotal “mix up” of pillow and pillow covers. A CDFD report had said that Hemraj’s blood had been found on a pillow and pillow cover reportedly from Krishna’s room. After a clarification request from the CBI,the CDFD had then responded saying that there had been a “typographical error” and the blood recovered was indeed from Hemraj’s room.

What did he say in court? Prasad told court in November 2012,Aarushi’s DNA did not match the vaginal swabs sent to CDFD,Hyderabad. Also told court that only Aarushi’s DNA was found from exhibits in her room.

On the “typographical error”,Prasad said,“After I and other scientists checked,we found that there was a problem in the chronology of items that were documented and their code numbers had been mixed up. I did not give the workbook to the CBI nor have I produced it in court. Stock book register,coding officer register,and the director’s register was neither given nor seized by the CBI.” This had prompted defence lawyers to question how the CBI knew there was an error if they were not privy to any of the CDFD documents.

Where is he now? Prasad still serves at CDFD Hyderabad.

Dr Naresh Raj

Who is he? Dr Raj conducted the post mortem on Hemraj.

What did he say in court? Dr Naresh Raj said that the injuries on the neck of Hemraj were made by a surgically trained person. This was corroborated by Dr Sunil Dohre,who assisted him in the post mortem,and had conducted Aarushi’s post mortem. Both doctors told court that the injuries on the head were identical as well. Also said that Hemraj’s private part seemed swollen,indicating that he was killed either when he was in the middle of intercourse,or preparing for it.

However,when the defence confronted him with Modi’s Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology,which said that the swelling was a sign of putrefecation of the body (Hemraj’s body was found a day later),Raj said his statements were not based on scientific evaluations,but on the “experiences of his own marriage”.

Where is he now? Still serves in the District Hospital,sector 30,Noida.

Dr. Andre Semikhodski

Who is he? London based forensic scientist who was produced as a defence witness by the accused to counter the statements of forensic experts that the CBI had put forth.

What did he say in court? Semikhodski said that he did not agree with the opinion forwarded by CFSL and the CDFD that LCN DNA tests could not be conducted on the exhibits because of contamination. He also said that as the khukri that had been recovered from Krishna’s room had several grooves on the nadle,DNA could still be generated from it if the sample was sent to his lab for testing. The court however,rejected an application from the accused on this basis.

Where is he now? Semikhodksi is now back in London where he serves as Director,Medical Genomics,a private organisation.