Aarushi case: No CBI chargesheet for now

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday said it will not a file a chargesheet in the sensational Aarushi murder case for the 'time being' as the probe into the case was not yet complete and that the agency was looking for some witnesses and evidence in neighbouring Nepal.

In a hurriedly-called press conference in New Delhi at the CBI headquarters, agency's Deputy Director (Coordination) Neerja Gotru said the CBI will pay a cash reward of Rs one lakh to anyone who would give further clues to recover the weapons of offence and mobile phones of the deceased -- Aarushi and her domestic help Hemraj.

"The investigation of this case will continue. The CBI will file its report under section 173 Criminal Procedure Code only on conclusion of investigation. The full facts of the case will be presented before the court," Gotru said.

With this, compounder of Dr Rajesh Talwar, Krishna, may get a bail in the absence of a chargesheet within the stipulated 90-day period which expires on September 13.

"If and when the bail applications of the accused persons in custody comes up in court, the full facts of the case will be presented before the court in a truthful, legal and professional manner by the CBI," she said.
 
While some of the officials in the CBI had favoured filing of the chargesheet on the basis of scientific investigations conducted in the case, the top brass of the agency, however, felt that some more evidence was needed before approaching the court. 

"The weapon of offence and the mobile phones of the deceased are to be recovered and further linkages probed. A Letters Rogatory is being sent to Nepal, seeking assistance in locating some witnesses and mobile phones of the deceased," the CBI officer said.

The weapon used in the double murder case was a heavy and sharp-edged one, which could be a 'Khukri' (traditional Nepalese dagger). She said the CBI conducted exhaustive search for leads in the investigation.

"Scientific and forensic methods, including polygraph test, brain fingerprinting and narco-analysis tests were conducted on the suspect persons at different laboratories," Gotru said.

The CBI's DIG said 'scientific and forensic methods during investigation strongly indicated involvement of the accused persons in the crime. Krishna was arrested by the CBI on June 13, Raj Kumar on June 27 and Vijay Mandal on July 11'.

Asha Shrivastava, head of lie detection unit in the Centre for Forensic and Scientific Laboratory, who was also present at the press conference, highlighted the importance of the tests including lie detector, brain mapping and narco-analysis.

The CBI again put focus on the importance of ascertaining the role of Dr Talwar, father of Aarushi, in the murder case and said 'during investigation, allegations against Dr Talwar were not substantiated and a report was filed before the court on July 11 following which he was released.'

While she refused to take any further questions citing that she was not associated with the case, CBI sources said that the agency had sought details about some persons hailing from Nepal besides locating some numbers from where calls had been made to Hemraj, a day before the gory murders took place in Noida on the intervening night of May 15 and 16, this year.