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Nupur Talwar
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New Delhi, April 11: A Ghaziabad court today issued a non-bailable warrant against Nupur Talwar, facing trial along with husband Rajesh for the murder of their 15-year-old daughter Aarushi, but officers who went to arrest her could not find the dentist at the couple’s homes in Noida and Delhi.
“Her whereabouts are not known and it seems she has gone underground. Rajesh was present in the court but refused to comment on her whereabouts,” a CBI official said.
The dentist couple have been charged with murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence.
The CBI sought a warrant against Nupur for failing to appear in court despite directions. Rajesh, arrested after the murder in May 2008 but released on bail, was present in court today and asked it to grant time to his wife who has skipped three hearings.
But the court issued the warrant and directed that Nupur be arrested and produced before it at the next hearing on April 18.
The CBI official said Nupur had the option to surrender before the next hearing. “If she fails to do so, she has to be arrested and produced in the court,” he said. Even if she surrenders, she would still be arrested but it might go in her favour while applying for bail. She has another option — to appeal to a higher court requesting cancellation of the warrant.
The couple had earlier moved Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court but failed to get relief. On Monday, the high court suspended an earlier order asking the Ghaziabad court to “expeditiously” decide any bail application moved by Nupur.
In January, the Supreme Court rejected the Talwars’ appeal and ruled that the couple would face trial for their daughter’s murder.
Aarushi was killed at home in Noida on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008. The body of domestic help Hemraj was found a day later on the terrace.
The case was initially probed by Uttar Pradesh police, who courted controversy by making unsavoury comments on the parents’ lifestyle.
The CBI, which took over the investigation later, has said there was enough circumstantial evidence to show that Rajesh killed Aarushi in a fit of rage and that Nupur helped him cover up the crime. But it asked for the case to be closed in December 2010 for lack of direct evidence. The court rejected the closure report and ordered that it be used as a chargesheet against the couple.
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