We were under severe constraints: CBI team

The Ghaziabad Special Judicial Magistrate (SJM) may have pulled up the CBI for not filing a chargesheet against Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, but it took into cognisance the final report, prepared by the second team of the CBI, and later used it to issue summons against the dentist couple in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case.

The Ghaziabad Special Judicial Magistrate (SJM) may have pulled up the CBI for not filing a chargesheet against Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, but it took into cognisance the final report, prepared by the second team of the CBI, and later used it to issue summons against the dentist couple in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case.

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The present team, and the second one on the case, has only three members in contrast to the first team of about 40 members. It took over the investigations in September 2009, more than a year after the twin murders, after the first team could not file either a chargesheet or a final report in the case.

A CBI source has revealed that there were "severe constraints" and "pressures" during the investigations, but the team preferred to proceed. The most crucial part of the investigations it carried out included the dressing up of the scene of crime, unusual router activity, the cleaning of Aarushi’s private parts and the locking of the terrace door on the day of the incident and also the CrPC 164 statements of the two witnesses, Dr Rohit Kocchar and Dr Rajeev Varshney.

The team also conducted dummy tests of the possible dragging of Hemraj's body, narco tests for the Talwars and collected statements of the series of new witnesses. The team found the trio of Raj Kumar Sharma, Krishna Thadarai and Vijay Mandal, who had earlier been accused of the murders, innocent. The first team could not file a final report or a chargesheet even after the three were arrested.

"There were several areas which were investigated afresh by the second team, while some leads were gathered from the findings of the first team," said a CBI source, hinting at the 'pressures' during the investigations.

The present CBI team is headed by Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) AGL Kaul. Sources say that he has the highest number of cases to his credentials that have led to life sentences to around 30 accused so far.