Noida, May 23
The Noida police today arrested dental surgeon Dr Rajesh Talwar, who lives in L-32 in Sector 25, Jal Vayu Vihar, Noida, for allegedly murdering his 14-year-old comely daughter Arushi and domestic help Hem Raj on the night of May 15 because they knew about his extra-marital affair and the victims themselves shared a close relationship. Talwar was later remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.

There have been reports that Nupur, wife of Talwar, also a dentist, and his doctor colleague Anita Durrani have been detained.

Addressing a press conference in the Noida police control room, IG, Police Range, Gurdarshan Singh said Dr Rajesh Talwar and Dr Nupur Talwar, the parents of Arushi, were taken to police station today, where Dr Rajesh Talwar was formally arrested for the twin murders on the basis of evidence, including the “strenuous cover-up” attempts by the dentist. Since the day of Arushi’s murder, the Talwars had been behaving in a curious way. “In a case like this, where there are no eyewitnesses, the crime has to be proved on the basis of circumstantial evidence,” the IG said.

On the morning of May 16, Dr Talwar had first called and informed some of his neighbours and friends about the murder of his daughter. It was around 7 am the same day that he informed the police.

The IG, who was accompanied by DIG, Meerut Range, P.C. Meena and Noida SSP A. Satish Ganesh at the press conference, said Dr Rajesh was having an extra marital affair. His daughter and domestic help Hem Raj were aware of his affair. Hem Raj had often talked about it to his friends in the colony and outside, which Dr Talwar did not like. Arushi had been opposing the affair of her father. Hem Raj had often told his friends that his life was in danger.

It seems Arushi and Hem Raj often used to discuss the affair of Dr Talwar and this over the time had brought the two close to each other, which Dr Talwar did not like. The police did not rule out the involvement of Arushi’s mother, Dr Nupur Talwar, in the sordid crime.

Dr Rajesh Talwar had gone out at 9-30 pm on May 15 and when he returned around 11 pm, he found Arushi and Hemraj very “close to each other”. IG Gurdarshan Singh said it was an “objectionable condition” and not a compromising position, though. This had apparently offended Dr Talwar, who took Hem Raj to the terrace on the pretext of talking to him and killed him. He washed his hands with the cooler water, came down and had a few pegs of whisky. Then he killed his daughter in the same manner as he murdered Hem Raj — first hitting her on the head with a heavy object, possibly a hammer, and than slitting her throat with a knife.

At 6 am the next day, Dr Rajesh called some friends and neighbours and discussed the matter with them and apparently decided as to what to tell the police. The police was informed around 7 am. The IG said from the very beginning there had been certain facts that had baffled the police. The couple were not prompt in informing the police. And when Dr Talwar went to the police station and lodged an FIR naming Hem Raj as the accused, he told the police in an emotional way to “hurry up, go after Hem Raj and nab him, else he would flee”.

Another reason for suspecting the Talwars was that they chose to dump Arushi’s mattress on neighbour’s terrace. When the policemen enquired about the terrace, he angrily told them it was just a terrace and they should not waste their time there unnecessarily. Since the same stairs were serving two flats, Dr Talwar took the blood-soaked mattress from Arushi’s bedroom and dumped it at the terrace of the neighbours, because on his own house terrace the body of Hem Raj was lying.

The IG said it was impossible that a man, who goes to bed at 11 pm, would not be disturbed if he heard some noise in the night. Talwar’s flat had a three-tier security — wooden door, bed room door and a lobby door. No killer could come from outside. At 12 pm, Dr Talwar had talked to a friend on phone and by 1 pm, the time of murder, the IG said he was sound asleep. The distance between the rooms of Dr Talwar and Arushi, where they slept, was not more that 6 ft and even if some body else had killed the girl, the parents not hearing any noise or commotion at all would be unbelieving.

“Talwar could not have been in sound sleep when the murder took place as he was talking on phone till 12 midnight. The area is peaceful and there is no traffic. So the slightest activity should have woken them up. It is not possible that a murder takes place in the room right next to theirs and they did not hear anything”, the IG said.

Third, no outsider could close the stairs door and lock it from outside which was opened by the maid in the morning after Dr Nupur Talwar had thrown the keys out.

Fourth, suspicion were also raised because efforts were made to hid Hem Raj’s body. “The lid of the cooler was put on the body so that nobody could spot it and the door to the terrace was locked. Any killer who could have come would not bother to close the door and lock it,” the IG said.

IG Gurdarshan Singh said the weapon of murder had not been recovered. “We shall take the accused on remand and find out the weapon and other details.” He said the police would keep the media informed of the further developments in the case.