CBI names Krishna, 2 others as Aarushi killers

NEW DELHI: Krishna, the compounder of dentist Rajesh Talwar, alongwith two others murdered Talwar's teenaged daughter Aarushi, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Friday. It gave clean chit to Talwar whom Noida Police named as the chief suspect.
 
The CBI said that Krishna, alongwith Raj Kumar, the servant of the Durranis, close friends and colleagues of the Talwars who too lived in Noida, and Vijay Mandal, the servant of Talwars' neighbour, killed Aarushi on May 15 night in a premeditated conspiracy.

The CBI said that Krishna was the prime accused as he harboured ill-feelings towards the family after being scolded by Rajesh Talwar in public. The agency also said that it has been unable to get any evidence against the Talwars in connection with the murder of their 14-year-old daughter and family help Hemraj.

The premier investigation agency said that Krishna had gained a friendly entry on the night of incident (May 15) to Talwars' Jalvayu Vihar residence in Noida as he knew Hemraj very well.

Hemraj and Krishna consumed alcohol and were later given company by Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal.

According to the CBI, the four gathered in Hemraj's room as Rajesh Talwar and his wife Nupur Talwar were fast asleep in their room. The dentist couple were not able to hear Aarushi's scream due to the whirring of the air conditioner.

"The four men consumed alcohol and talked about Aarushi. After that they went to her room. However, when she tried to scream, she was gagged and hit on the forehead with a hard blunt object," CBI joint director Arun Kumar told a press conference Friday.

"When Krishna, Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal tried to sexually abuse Aarushi, it led to a scuffle with Hemraj. They then went to the terrace and killed Hemraj. They came back to Aarushi's room and slit her throat," said Kumar.

The CBI joint director said that the men carried the weapon with them before going to Aarushi's room and the murder weapon could be a "khukri".

The CBI investigating team has corroborated its findings with scientific evidence gathered from the crime scene.

"Hemraj's blood group was AB and Aarushi's B. We found stains of AB blood group on the terrace and on Aarushi's pillow in her room. So it was concluded that the AB blood group was carried from the terrace to Aarushi's room," Kumar added.

"The post-mortem report of the injury also support that Aarushi was first hit by a hard blunt object and then her throat slit," he said.

Krishna was arrested by the CBI June 13 after he confessed in his narco-analysis test to his involvement in the crime.

The investigators arrested Raj Kumar after Krishna named him in his narco-analysis test and a blood stained T-shirt and bicycle were recovered from his room. The third accused Vijay Mandal was arrested by the CBI Friday (July 11).

"Rajesh Talwar has said during the interrogation that two days before the incident (on May 13) he had scolded Krishna publicly for not making a dentistry equipment properly. Krishna was very agitated," Arun Kumar said here.

Kumar said that the fact was corroborated by witnesses like the family's driver.

Kumar said the needle of suspicion pointed at Krishna as he had tried to derail the investigations of the Noida police by planting rumours about Aarushi and Hemraj's relations and Rajesh Talwar's illicit relations with Anita Durrani.

"He had told Noida police that Aarushi and Hemraj had relations. All stories about the relations were given by Krishna and were corroborated by none. It is apparent that Krishna consciously tried to derail the probe," Kumar said.

The CBI sleuths, who have been on the case for about one and half months, tightened the noose around Krishna after his psychoanalysis test at AIIMS presented him as an "aggressive, manipulative, evasive person who is not loyal to anybody".