Will mobile reveal clues?
After finding out that previous data in Aarushi Talwar’s mobile phone has been erased, the Central Bureau of Investigation has now sought forensic help to retrieve the data. See graphic 1 , graphic 2
After finding out that previous data in Aarushi Talwar’s mobile phone has been erased, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now sought forensic help to retrieve the data.
Noida teenager Aarushi and her family’s domestic help Hemraj Banjade were found murdered last May at the Talwar residence in Noida.
With the recovery of the teenager’s Nokia N-72 from a man in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, the investigators are hoping to find some clues.
CBI sources said now only data stored in the phone’s memory could be retrieved, data stored in its original memory card and SIM card having been allegedly deleted already.
The CBI on Tuesday grilled Ram Bhool and his sister Kusum. Sources said Kusum has been changing her version about how and when she found the mobile phone.
Based on the versions of the two, the CBI team is trying to piece together the sequence following the twin murders on May 16 last year.
The investigators are trying to find out if the phone set came in the possession of the duo “accidentally” or were they in any way linked to the murderer(s).
“They both have denied any knowledge about the crime,” said an agency source. The investigators, however, tried to find out whether they knew that the mobile phone was linked to the murders.
The forensic team, said the source, is trying to retrieve fingerprints, if any, from the phone set. “While handling the phone, or taking out/switching the SIM card the suspect(s) might have left behind fingerprint(s),” said the source.
Raj Kumar, one of the suspects in the case, said the CBI played “a major” role in hiding/destroying/tampering the case’s material evidence including the murder weapon(s) and the phone sets of Aarushi and Hemraj (who had a Tata Indicom handset).
“Keeping in view the interests of fair and impartial investigation and also in consonance with the directions of the Supreme Court of India, the CBI does not propose to share any details in Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case with media at this stage,” said CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal.
The case’s three suspects —medical assistant Krishna Thadarai, and domestic helps Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal — have been out on bail since September 12 last year.