In a fresh petition before the special CBI court hearing the Aarushi-Hemraj murder trial, dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar on Tuesday sought summoning of journalist Nalini Singh and CBI officer Anuj Arya as court witnesses in the case.
The couple, facing trial for murder and destruction of evidence, said Singh had claimed during a television programme on October 14 that CBI officer Arya had questioned her in 2008 in connection with the case.
In the application, the Talwars’ lawyers said Singh claimed in the TV programme that Arya had asked her about the contents of a programme played on a Nepali channel run by her on the night of May 15-16, 2008, at 11.45pm.
Arya was associated with the first CBI team that investigated the double murder case.
Teenager Aarushi Talwar was found murdered in her Noida home on May 16, 2008. A day later, the body of the family’s domestic help Hemraj Banajde was found on the terrace.
According to the Talwars’ application, the CBI officer told her (Nalini Singh) that the three previous suspects — Krishna Thadarai, Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal — had admitted that they were present in Hemraj’s room on the night of the incident and were watching songs on the Nepali channel. Hemraj was also present, they had said.
{{/usCountry}}According to the Talwars’ application, the CBI officer told her (Nalini Singh) that the three previous suspects — Krishna Thadarai, Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal — had admitted that they were present in Hemraj’s room on the night of the incident and were watching songs on the Nepali channel. Hemraj was also present, they had said.
{{/usCountry}}Along with their application, the Talwars submitted a CD featuring Singh and other panelists during the TV discussion.
The CBI had ruled out the involvement of Sharma, Thadarai and Mandal when the agency filed its closure report on December 29, 2010.
The trio was arrested by the first team of the CBI but released in September 2008.
After the second CBI probe team took over, the case took a turn when Nupur and Rajesh were charged for murder and destruction of evidence with common intention. Rajesh is additionally charged under section 203 of IPC for lodging a false FIR to mislead investigation.
The CBI is expected to reply to the Talwars’ application on Wednesday.
The Talwars’ lawyers were to initiate their defence arguments on Tuesday but hearing was deferred due to a strike called by the Ghaziabad Bar Association.