The Curious Case of Narco Tests in Aarushi-Hemraj Murder Mystery

The narco analysis of Rajkumar, Krishna and Vijay Mandal bear a common link – they were with Hemraj that night.

On the night of 15 May 2008, Aarushi Talwar was murdered in her bed. She had sustained injuries from a possibly fatal blow to her forehead. Her throat was slit. 14-year-old Aarushi’s body was found by her parents the next morning. Two days later, the prime suspect, Hemraj Banjade, the Talwars’ domestic help, was found dead on the terrace.

On 12 October, the Allahabad High Court delivered its verdict in the case, acquitting the Talwars of murder charges. This interview was first published on 5 October 2015 and is being republished from The Quint’s archives in light of the verdict.

The Ghaziabad sessions court judgment in the Aarushi Talwar- Hemraj murder case makes an observation.

Aarushi was found dead in her bed and the dead body of the servant Hemraj was found on 17.05.2008 on the terrace of the house and there is nothing to suggest that in the fateful night any intruders came inside the house and committed the murders of both the deceased.

While interestingly, the narco analysis of Rajkumar (Durranis’ house help), Krishna (Rajesh Talwar’s assistant) and Vijay Mandal, a.k.a Shambhu may differ on some counts, but all converge at the point that they were drinking with Hemraj at the Talwars’ residence, on that fateful night. Author Avirook Sen has pointed this out in his book, Aarushi: Anatomy of a Murder. Here are some excerpts curated from Sen’s book.

Krishna’s Narco Analysis: Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal Killed Aarushi-Hemraj

Krishna was Dr Rajesh Talwar’s assistant at his dental clinic. On 12 June, 2008, Krishna’s narco analysis was conducted at the Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital, Bangalore. His narco analysis says:

Hemraj was killed on the terrace. He said that the terrace was not locked. He said that he had bought kokari [sic, khukri] from Sujata (Krishna’s friend). He said that he had kokari with him, kokari was very long...He said that both Hemraj and Aarushi were killed with the same kokari and he has seen it himself. He said that he will show the kokari.. He said after the murder those people have thrown the kokari outside to destroy it. He said that Rajkumar liked Aarushi. Rajkumar was Nepali and was working in Dr Anita Durrani’s house, was staying in sector 53 and was visiting sector 25 to meet Hemraj . . . Rajkumar was around 23 years old and if he is subjected for the test the truth will be revealed . . .He says the reason for the murder may be sex . . . He says that Dr Talwar may not be involved in this murder as Aarushi was his only daughter and Hemraj was innocent. He says that first Aarushi was killed, Hemraj was killed for the reason that he had known about the murderer. Aarushi was killed from behind with kokari and Hemraj was hit behind [sic] the back to the head. He says that Rajkumar and his friend Shambu [Vijay Mandal] are responsible for these murders. He does not know about the kokari used by Shambu and Rajkumar, says that tissue used for cleaning have been flushed in the bathroom in Aarushi’s house and later destroyed...He said that he is not involved in this murder and Rajkumar has done this murder. He has only witnessed it...The incident occurred at night between 12-1 am. Hemraj had gone on terrace and is killed. He says that Hemraj saw murdering Aarushi so he ran and tried to escape from terrace route and he was caught hold and killed. He said that after the murder he went back through terrace.

Vijay Mandal (or Shambhu’s) Narco Analysis: Krishna and Rajkumar killed Hemraj

The CBI took Vijay Mandal, a.k.a Shambhu to Forensic Services Laboratory, Mumbai and subjected him to a polygraph and brain mapping test on 30 June and 1 July 2008. Excerpts from the test:

He said on the day of the incident Hemraj had called him to come and meet around 12 o’ clock in midnight... He said when he went to Dr Talwar’s house when he rang the call bell Hemraj had opened the door and directly had been to Hemraj’s room and saw Krishna in the room... He said after the discussion he had come back to his garage and when he was going to toilet he saw Rajkumar going towards Dr Talwar’s house...He said according to him all three i.e. Rajkumar, Hemraj and Krishna were speaking about Aarushi and started to quarrel among themselves... He said he was called on the terrace to meet them...He said he had seen a Khukari in the hands of Krishna and that was the first time he had seen Khukari in Hemraj’s home...He was aware that Aarushi was raped.. He said Aarushi was murdered first and followed by Hemraj.. He said they might have hit Aarushi on the head and she was fallen unconscious...He said Krishna along with Rajkumar fought with Hemraj on the terrace as they were fully drunk...

Rajkumar, in his narco-analysis test, too confirmed what Shambhu told interrogators during the test.

Rajkumar (Durranis’ house help): Krishna killed Aarushi and Hemraj

Rajkumar’s nacro analysis, brain mapping, polygraph test were conducted at the FSL, Gandhinagar on 23-24 June 2008. Here is an excerpt from his narco analysis on the second day of the test:

According to him Krishna went to Hemraj’s room. After having his drink there, he wanted to go to Aarushi’s room, which was prevented by Hemraj...In the pretext of getting water, he visited dining area from where he went to Aarushi’s room. He tried to impose himself upon her and she must have got awakened. Krishna got scared and killed her and when he came out of the room with blood soaked cloth and weapon, that time Rajkumar came there and was sitting with Hemraj in his room. Hemraj got upset and asked what you did. Being worried that Dr Talwar and his wife Dr Nupur Talwar may wake up, he rushed Hemraj and Rajkumar to terrace to sort out... As Krishna was unsuccessful in handling Hemraj to save himself, he hit Hemraj when he was opening lock of terrace from behind. Hemraj fell down then Krishna took Hemraj on terrace and cut his throat.

The Converging Testimony

All three testimonies bear one common link – all said that they were with Hemraj at the Talwar residence that night, and there were some drinks involved. In his book, Avirook Sen questions, how Dr. SL Vaya, the behavioural scientist had then told Arun Kumar, who headed the first CBI team, that there was enough material in tests done on Krishna and Rajkumar for the CBI to investigate and frame charges, and why these were never taken into account.