Defence for Talwars rejects CBI`s golf club attack theory

Ghaziabad: The defence in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case Tuesday rubbished the CBI theory that Rajesh Talwar had fatally struck the two victims with a golf club after allegedly finding them in a compromising position at his residence.

The counsel for Rajesh and Nupur Talwar told court that till Oct. 30, 2009, the golf club was not being taken as the murder weapon but, thereafter, it was "declared" as being so. "During the forensic test of the golf clubs, no biological fluid, no DNA and no blood was found. "Besides, post-mortem reports of Aarushi and Hemraj don`t even suggest that the victims were attacked with a golf club," argued Tanveer Ahmed Mir, the counsel for the dentist couple who are standing trial for the murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj. Mir said that although CFSL expert Dr MS Dahiya, during his testimony, had said that he had never seen a golf club prior to the present case, he had still claimed that the victims had been hit with one. Dahiya had prepared his report on the basis of photographs and the post-mortem reports of the deceased. Mir said that the Talwars had handed over 12 golf clubs and the bag they came in to CBI inspector Richpal Singh on Oct. 30, 2009. "A set of golf clubs was tied with cloth so that their heads and handles remained exposed; that indicates mishandling of golf clubs on part of CBI," the defence counsel said. On Aug. 2, 2010, the Talwars` driver, Umesh, was called to the CBI office in Delhi for a Test Identification Parade (TIP). He had been asked to identify the two golf clubs which he had put in the servant`s room on May 15, 2008. Mir said that it is humanly impossible to identify a golf club after such a long time, adding that, as per a Supreme Court ruling, TIP should be conducted before a magistrate to be admissible. Defence for Talwars rejects CBI`s golf club attack theory But, no magistrate was present when CBI officials held the TIP, which thus became inadmissible, Mir added. Mir also told court that neither had Dr Sunil Dohre and Dr Naresh Raj, who conducted the post-mortems on the victims` bodies, said till Oct. 30, 2009, that a golf club was used as a murder weapon. He also added that the re-enactment of the scene of crime was never conducted in Aarushi`s room. It was instead performed on the stairs, which did not point any fingers towards the Talwars. The defence arguments in the case are to continue till Oct. 30. PTI