By IANS,
New Delhi : Two doctors who conducted the autopsy on slain Noida teenager Aarushi Talwar were questioned Wednesday as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) desperately sought a breakthrough in its probe into her murder and that of her family’s domestic help.
The agency also summoned to its headquarters Anita Durani, a dentist friend of Aarushi’s father Rajesh Talwar who has been held for the crime.
Talwar’s maid Bharti and driver Umesh were also summoned for questioning.
Sunil Dore, one of the two doctors who conducted the autopsy, was asked about his findings, including the manner in which Aarushi’s throat was slit, a CBI official said.
When asked about the questioning, Dore refused to comment, saying: “The matter is under investigation and I cannot say anything about it at the moment.”
Naresh Raj, the other doctor who conducted the autopsy, was also questioned.
“Bharti was picked up this morning and questioned,” CBI sources said. The interrogation lasted 45 minutes.
The twin murders were discovered May 16 after Bharti arrived at the Talwar’s upscale Jal Vayu Vihar apartment for her daily chores.
The Noida police initially named domestic help Hemraj as the prime suspect, but retracted after his body was found on the terrace of the house the next day.
Aarushi’s father Rajesh Talwar, a prominent dentist, was arrested May 23. Police said Talwar killed his daughter in a fit of rage as he objected to her closeness with Hemraj. Police said Talwar first killed Hemraj and then his daughter.
The CBI made a second arrest June 13 when it held Krishna, the compounder in Talwar’s clinic. The agency says Krishna has confessed to being involved in the twin murders.
The agency had previously questioned Aruna Durani in her Noida apartment. She was summoned on Tuesday to verify her previous statements, the CBI official said.
As for the driver, Umesh Sharma, he was taken to a bank in Noida’s Sector-18.
“He was taken to the bank to verify some transactions. Aarushi’s mother (Nupur Talwar) also has an account in the same bank but we did not examine that,” the CBI official said.
Meanhwile, Krishna’s lawyer F.C. Sharma said Wednesday that the compounder had confessed only as a witness and not as an accused in the crime.
As the CBI submitted before a court Tuesday that it had obtained, under section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), a confessional statement from Krishna in which he had admitted his crime, it was clear that the agency intended to turn him into an approver or a witness, lawyer F.C. Sharma maintained.
“Section 161 of CrPC applies for a witness and section 162 applies for the accused. As the CBI has stated that they recorded his statement under section 161 of CrPC, it means Krishna is a witness not an accused,” he said.
The CBI was not available for comment.
“Krishna has confessed to his involvement in the crime along with others,” the CBI said in a statement submitted in the court of special judge Sapna Mishra Tuesday, even as it sought his custody for 11 days. The judge allowed only six days.
“Krishna revealed that Hemraj had asked him to bring a ‘khukri’ (Nepali curved knife) when he came to Talwar’s residence at around midnight on May 14. He said he had taken the khukri himself,” the CBI statement said.
Legal experts contended that the CBI might have extracted a confession from Krishna but this was not admissible in court since it had been recorded before a police officer under section 161 of the CrPC. Only statements recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the code are admissible as evidence.
The CBI will now produce Krishna before the court on June 23.