In what is slated to bring to an end one of the most sensational murder mysteries, a CBI special court here will declare the verdict in Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case on Monday.
More than five years after the dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar’s teenager daughter Aarushi Talwar and servant Hemraj were found murdered on May 15-16 2008, the CBI court will today blow the lid off the mystery that has intrigued the courts and the people alike.
The investigation into the intriguing double murder followed quiet a meandering trajectory unfolding various conspiracy theories which at one point of time also pointed at the involvement of three other people namely Krishna, Rajkumar (the domestic help of Talwar’s neighbour) and Vijay Mandal (the driver of the Talwars’ neighbour).
The verdict will be pronounced by the Ghaziabad CBI special court judge Shyam Lal in the presence of the main accused – Rajesh and Nupur Talwar and the CBI.
The first investigation into the case was done by the Uttar Pradesh Police which suspected the dentist parents behind the double murders and Rajesh Talwar was arrested on May 23, 2008.
However just a week after his arrest, the case was ceded over to the investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 31, and the closure report was filed on Dec 29, the same year.
However, the CBI closure report did not account any one for the crime citing “insufficient evidence” which was rejected by District Magistrate Priti Singh who ordered that Talwars should stand trial in the case.
The Talwars had subsequently moved the Allahabad High Court, which dismissed their pleas to quash the trial court summons and the proceedings initiated against them.
The couple then approached the apex court but were denied relief.
The trial in the sensational murders started on June 11, 2012. The case went on for nearly one and a half year during which prosecution led by CBI’s Deputy Legal Advisor R K Saini presented 39 witnesses to buttress their case while defence team presented seven witnesses.
On January 25, 2011, Rajesh was attacked by a youth with a meat cleaver on the Ghaziabad court premises.
The action in court at times had shades of a Bollywood drama when defence lawyer performed a demonstration of the attack of golf club on motorbike helmet and a dragging scene by putting a man in a bed sheet before the judge, claiming that dentist couple would have been unable to drag Hemraj’s body to terrace.
The prosecution started its final arguments on October 10 summing up their case against Rajesh and Nupur running into nearly seven days while defence started its arguments on October 24 and completed it on November 12.
On Nov 12, 2013, the CBI judge adjourned the court till Nov 25, the date set for the judgment.
—PTI