No proof, cops have back against wall

Failure to gather any worthwhile evidence during Dr Rajesh Talwar’s three- day police custody spells trouble for the already discredited Uttar Pradesh Police, report Ravi Bajpai and Kapil Datta.

Failure to gather any worthwhile evidence during Dr Rajesh Talwar’s three- day police custody spells trouble for the already discredited Uttar Pradesh Police. They claim to have lots of circumstantial evidence against the doctor but nothing concrete to prove in court.

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The police, under pressure from women and child rights activists for the handling of the case, were desperately looking for a significant recovery — like the crime weapon (hammer and scalpel), the bloodstained clothes of Talwar or the victims’ mobile phones that are missing.

"The police haven’t recovered anything during his custody. That’s why Talwar has been sent to the Dasna Jail," said Senior Prosecution Officer PC Srivastava.

The police could rely on strong circumstantial evidence, if any, to prove their case against Talwar during trial, said legal experts. But the police are not clear about the exact chain of events leading to the murders and more importantly, the motive behind the killings.

The latest development puts a question mark on the police’s efficiency in conducting the probe that has progressed at a snail’s pace since Talwar’s arrest. Worst still, as Talwar’s wife Nupur put it recently, the real killer could still be out there.

Phone call records, circumstantial evidence, interrogation and even scanning of Talwar and Aarushi’s computers have not taken the police anywhere near nailing Talwar.

Instead, the police have told the court that Talwar is not cooperating and have requested for permission to conduct a narco analysis test on him. The test could be crucial in deciding how strong the case against Talwar could be in the long run, said criminal lawyer Kamini Jaiswal.

The results of such a test are not applicable in the court in normal circumstances. "Narco test can be used as evidence only if it leads to recovery. The revelations may not be used directly as evidence but can provide key links that could plug gaps in the police’s theory," said Jaiswal.