True Crime Collection

Aarushi Talwar & Hemraj Banjade - Part 2

The discovery of Hemraj's body greatly embarrassed the police, as their initial investigation focused on him as the murderer. The police were also criticised for other investigation lapses, such as not cordoning off the crime scene. The investigating officer Dataram Nauneria was shifted on 17th May. The next day, Superintendent of Police Mahesh Mishra was also transferred.

On 19th May the police named the Talwars' former Nepali domestic help Vishnu Sharma as the suspect. Vishnu had worked as a servant and a clinic helper for the Talwars for 10 years. He would go on long vacations; each time, he would replace himself with a distant relative. When he left for a vacation 8 months before the murder, he introduced Hemraj to the Talwars as his replacement. However, when he returned, he found himself out of job: the Talwars preferred to retain Hemraj as a permanent employee. The police suspected that an angry Vishnu might have killed Hemraj for usurping his job; Aarushi might have been killed for being a witness. Vishnu was taken into custody, along with former servants of the Talwars. However, the police were unable to find any evidence that connected him to the murders. It was confirmed that he was in Nepal on the day of the murders.

On 21st May, Delhi Police joined the UP police in the investigation. By this time, the police as well as the media had started suspecting the parents for multiple reasons:

- The distance between the beds of Aarushi and her parents was around 7-8 feet. Yet the parents claimed that they didn't hear any noise and slept through the murders.

- There was no sign of forced entry into Aarushi's room, which would usually be locked at night. Someone outside the room could open it only with a key usually kept beside Nupur's bedside. The parents could not explain how the murderers gained access to this key, which was found in the living room after the murder.

- On the morning of 16th May, Rajesh asked the police to stop wasting time in his house and pursue Hemraj instead. He even offered to cover the cost of police's visit to Hemraj's native village in Nepal. This offer was seen as a diversionary tactic.

- Rajesh ignored the police's request for the key to the terrace door. An attempt had been made to hide Hemraj's body, as evident by the fact that it had been covered with a cooler panel and that the iron grill separating the adjacent terrace had been covered with a bed sheet. The police suspected that the Talwars planned to blame Aarushi's murder on Hemraj, and hid his body on the terrace for disposing of it later. However, the media glare and a constant stream of visitors made it impossible for them to get rid of the body.

- When Hemraj's body was discovered, Rajesh told the police that he could not identify it.

- The crime scene had been dressed up. Aarushi's bed sheet remained undisturbed, and her body had been covered with a white flannel blanket. There was no blood on the toys, the school bag and a pink pillow, indicating that these items had been kept at the crime scene after the murder.

- The family allegedly showed "undue" haste in cremating Aarushi's body and cleaning the crime scene on 16th May.

- According to some of the visitors, the parents did not display shock or grief. SP Mahesh Kumar claimed that the Talwars looked "very nervous" when he questioned them on 16th May.

- During 16th - 17th May, a series of telephonic conversations happened between KK Gautam, Dr. Sushil Chaudhury and Rajesh's brother Dinesh Talwar. KK later alleged that Dr Sushil, a friend of Dinesh, had asked him to get any reference to a sexual assault removed from the post mortem report.

- Hemraj had spoken of a threat to his life before his death. The police suspected that he knew about Rajesh's alleged extra martial affair, and Rajesh had threatened him not to talk about it.