New Delhi, June 04: The CBI probe into the Aarushi- Hemraj murder case is gathering pace. And once again, Aarushi’s parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are under the scanner.
Sources said it is now suspected that Nupur may have played an equal, if not a bigger role, in the crime than her husband.
This suspicion stems from the fact that evidence on the scene of crime was meticulously destroyed.
The CBI has reasons to believe that the missing mobile of Hemraj was in the Talwars’ Noida house till the morning when Aarushi’s murder came to light.
Till now, it was suspected that the Talwars’ domestic help, Krishna, had taken Hemraj’s phone after committing the murders. But now, the CBI believes that Hemraj’s phone was in Talwars’ flat and was in all probability destroyed later by a family member.
A one- second call was made to Hemraj’s phone by Nupur from the landline on the morning of May 16, 2008. She claimed to have made this call after discovering Aarushi’s murder to check where Hemraj was.
But the cell tower location of Hemraj’s phone during that brief call was Jalvayu Vihar — where the doctor couple lived.
It has now been established that Krishna, who also lives in the same area, didn’t go to the Talwar residence that night.
“ The suspicion is on the Talwars as Hemraj’s phone has still not been found,” a source said.
The CBI didn’t find phone records or any other evidence to link Vijay Mandal — an accused domestic help — with the other two accused servants, Krishna and Raj Kumar. “ Mandal did not know Krishna or Raj Kumar. How can they be partners in a wellplanned crime and subsequent conspiracy to destroy evidence?” a source said.
There are also fresh question marks on the post- mortem report of Aarushi, which said she was probably murdered between midnight and 2 am. It is now suspected that she may have been murdered anytime after 9 pm on May 15 as her mobile phone was switched off after 9.06 pm.
The Talwars claimed that they had gone off to sleep around midnight and slept through the double murders in their house. The Noida doctor who conducted Aarushi’s autopsy, Dr Sunil Dore, is now being grilled by the CBI. He is believed to have admitted to a mistake in recording the timing of the death.
The CBI has records to prove that Rajesh was surfing the internet in Aarushi’s room till 11.45 pm, but did not attend two phone calls made by her friend on the landline. The boy had called Aarushi around midnight after trying her cellphone.
The agency suspects that Aarushi’s cellphone, which was recovered last year, was also disposed of by a family member.
Sources said facts in the case were intentionally prevaricated to give relief to Talwars. To find out if the couple influenced the probe and forensic evidence, the CBI is now quizzing two Noida policemen who took blood samples from the crime scene and those who carried Aarushi’s vaginal swabs from the police station to Noida District Hospital.
On the murder weapon, the source said: “ It could have been anything. But it is certainly not a khukri as initially suspected.”
—Agencies