Talwar sent to three-days police custody

NOIDA: Rajesh Talwar, accused of killing his teenaged daughter and family help, was on Tuesday remanded to three days' police custody by a court here even as he claimed innocence and apprehended that police could frame him.
    
Police wanted his custody for seven days, arguing that it wanted to recover the weapons used in the double murder besides mobiles of the victims and clothes of the accused but Chief Judicial Magistrate A K Singh gave them the remand only for three days, beginning 7 pm on Tuesday.
    
During the proceedings, which media was not allowed to witness, Talwar told the court he had no role in the murder of his 14-year-old daughter Arushi and servant Hemraj on May 16 and that police was concocting a theory of its own.
    
Talwar, a dentist, also said that he had never confessed to the crime as claimed by police during proceedings and that he feared police would frame him in the case.
    
The judge also allowed the presence of a lawyer during the interrogation of Talwar, after the defence expressed apprehension that he could be tortured in custody.
    
"During interrogation, one lawyer will remain with the accused at an appropriate distance," Singh said in his order.
    
Talwar was arrested on Friday last week, eight days after the twin murder rocked this suburb of Delhi, and was sent to 14-days' judicial custody the same day.
    
High drama was witnessed during the hearing as some lawyers agitating on the Gujjar issue entered the court room and shouted slogans, which disrupted the proceedings for some time.
    
Talwar, who was sent to 14-days judicial custody on Friday following his arrest for allegedly killing his daughter Arushi and family help Hemraj on May 16, was brought to the court this morning for the hearing, amidst tight security.
    
The proceedings, which began around 1:30 pm, had lasted barely 15 minutes, when some lawyers who have been agitating for reservation benefits for Gujjars entered the court room and started shouting slogans.
    
His lawyers had moved two bail applications, one on health grounds and another claiming loopholes in the probe, and a police plea seeking his remand had come up before the court.
    
The bail plea was earlier scheduled to be taken up on Monday, but it had to be postponed till Tuesday due to a strike called by the lawyers in support of the Gujjars' agitation.
    
Meanwhile, a group of protesting lawyers attacked the office of Talwar's defence lawyer near the court premises.
    
The protestors marched towards the office of Mahendra and Associates, the defence lawyers' firm, and tried to break open the door when police intervened and dispersed them. The window panes of the office were also broken.
    
The court also did not entertain a plea by Talwar's relative Ajay Chaddha who sought permission for meeting the dentist at the court lock-up room. Two other relatives also scuffled with police when they prevented them from talking to Talwar there.
    
The court granting custody of Talwar has given a boost to Noida Police, which has received flak for its shoddy line of investigations.
    
A senior police official said the custodial interrogation is expected to throw more light into the case besides recovery of the murder weapons and mobiles of the victims, which are "crucial" evidence in the case.
    
The case had its twists and turns, the first being the recovery of the body of 'initial' suspect Hemraj from the terrace of Talwar's residence by a retired policeman, a day after Arushi was murdered.
    
The police then indicated that one Vishnu, a former servant of Talwar who introduced Hemraj to them, might be behind the murder. Police theory was that Vishnu wanted his job back, which Hemraj refused leading to his killing while Arushi was done to death as she was a possible witness.
    
However, police ruled out the involvement of Vishnu and zeroed in on Talwar, saying he allegedly murdered both Arushi and Hemraj after he found them in an "objectionable but not compromising" position and that his "extra-marital" affair with fellow doctor Anita Durrani trigerred it.
    
Both the Talwars and Durranis dismissed this line and alleged that police were out to frame the dentist in the sensational case.
    
Police on Sunday had indicated that more arrests were likely in the case after questioning Nupur Talwar, the mother of the slain girl, for close to two hours.
    
They also confiscated the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer used by 14-year-old Arushi from the room where she was found murdered.
    
Investigators claimed they had collected "crucial evidence" to link Rajesh to the murders like entry of the Arushi's time of death as 2 a.m. by the dentist at the temple in Hardwar where her ashes were immersed. Talwars had claimed before the police that they found Arushi's body at 6 a.m.