Dr Rajesh Talwar, accused of murdering his daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, was on Friday remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
The Noida police claimed to have cracked the case based on Dr Talwar's confession after they confronted him with questions based on information gathered from a 14-year-old friend of Aarushi.
According to the police, the motive for the murder was two-fold. First, Dr Talwar was having an affair with a fellow doctor Anita Durrani and Aarushi had come to know of this. Second, when he came back home on the night of the murder, he caught Aarushi and Hemraj in a compromising position.
The police claim Dr Talwar took Hemraj to the terrace of his L-31 apartment in Noida's Sector 25 to sort out the issue and then killed him in a rage. The police claim that he smashed Hemraj's head with a hammer lying in the terrace and then slit his throat with a surgical knife that he had in his coat pocket.
The doctor then came downstairs and after having a couple of drinks, slit his daughter's throat, thus buttressing their claim of the murder being an honour killing.
Help from Aarushi's friend:
The police on Friday said the key to solving the case were inputs given by one of Aarushi's friends, with whom she had more than 680 phone transactions -- calls made, received, missed and text messages -- over three days preceding the murder.
The police suggested that Aarushi had confided in the friend, who told them that she knew of her father's alleged affair. They said Talwar confessed to the crime when they confronted him with the details provided by the boy.
Media's role:
The police also acknowledged the media's role, saying it was the media presence from day one that prevented Dr Talwar from disposing off Hemraj's body.
"Among the first things that the doctor did was to accuse Hemraj of the murder. The doctor's plan was to hide the servant's body in the terrace before disposing it. He thought the police would follow the line that Hemraj was the suspect and if he successfully managed to dump his body, the case would never be solved.
"But the presence of the television media and other journalists at his home from the time the incident came to light meant that he never got the chance. Finally, one of the officers found the body on the terrace," an officer said.
Apart from forensic and circumstantial evidence, the police did not explain what concrete evidence they have in their hands and how they will present the case in the courts.
"We cannot tell you everything. We cannot talk anymore about the case till the time we present it in the court," another officer said.
The police have not yet arrested Talwar's wife Nupur, also a doctor. She is being questioned. They have, however, detained Dr Anita Durrani.
Loose ends and questions:
Did Dr Nupur know about the killings, which apparently happened when she was present in the house? What is her role in the incident? The police are not saying.
How did they miss the body of Hemraj, which was in the terrace of the house for more than 24 hours? Were there more people involved?
Apart from forensic and the doctor's confession, which he may withdraw in the court, does the police have any concrete evidence to nail him to the murders?
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