The closure report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Aarushi murder case should not be the end of the matter. Its admission of failure must trigger another set of actions. The least that the people of this country expect from its premier investigating agency is competence. Hopefully, the closure report will be made public when the Ghaziabad court opens after the year-end vacations, and people will get to know the pains that the CBI has taken, the leads it has followed, the events that plausibly happened on the night of May 16, 2008 when Aarushi and her manservant Hemraj were murdered, the most likely suspects and why the case has reached a dead end. This happened in the Jessica Lal case where the Delhi High Court ordered the Delhi Police to file a status report when main accused Manu Sharma was set free.
Ever since it took up the case the CBI has been leaking like a sieve. It has led on the journalists with all kinds of stories. At one time they even believed that it had "cracked" the case. Even after the closure report was filed, Ritu Sarin of the Indian Express reported that the CBI suspects 'inmates." Being a journalist of repute, Ms Sarin must have got her information on authority. According to her report, there were four inmates at the time of the crime, including the parents. Two are dead. The CBI's needle of suspicion has pointed to other actors as well. How about declaring those who are in the clear?
The murderers may go unpunished, but those that that allowed them to be free, by default or design, must not. From the television coverage of the incident it was clear that the Noida police had messed up the investigation. They did not cordon off the scene of crime; journalists and mourners had a free run. The police did not even make a proper survey. They discovered Hemraj's body on the terrace many hours later. So casual was Meerut Inspector General Gurdarshan Singh that he kept referring to Aarushi as Shruti during the press conference, seven days later. In the Jessica Lal case, the special investigation team charged the Delhi Police with criminal conspiracy (because forensic evidence was manipulated) and destruction of evidence. The Noida police who let the evidence get contaminated must be booked for dereliction of duty. There is such a thing as esprit de corps or professional pride. In Japan, a person in Mr Singh's position would have made a public apology and quit. In Uttar Pradesh, he gets posted to headquarters.
If a case that was in the eye of the nation was so terribly messed up, what of those that do not catch the headlines? It would be interesting to know how many heinous crime cases in Uttar Pradesh - and other states - have gone cold. The police have acquired a reputation for shaking people off their money. It is time to shake them up. The security apparatus was revamped after the 26/11 terror attacks. The Aarushi murder case is a call for overhauling the crime investigation setup.
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The investigators lack sincerity in their work. The first step of looking out for evidence by UP Police was primitive. How could the investigator not go to the terrace to search for possible entry of accused persons through the terrace. Had he gone to the terrace then the dead body of the servant boy could have been recovered. Further we could see on TV, blood stains on the wall of the terrace. The CBI ought to have got the blood stains analysed. The finger prints on the liquor bottle ought to have been examined by DNA testing and compared with suspects. I can go on and on but who cares. The CBI does not wish to have any forensic expert like me to comment. If i comment more, the CBI may implicate me in the case. Feel sorry for the Talwars and Aarushi. May her soul rest in peace.
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