Krishna, Raj Kumar released on bail

Krishna Thadarai and Raj Kumar, both accused in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case, were granted bail on Friday. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was not able to furnish any evidence against them either.

Last week, the third accused in the case - Vijay Mandal - was granted bail for the same reason.

The grant of bail to all three was expected as CBI could not file a charge-sheet against them within the stipulated time-frame of 90 days, which ended on Wednesday.

CBI sources insist they have enough 'scientific' evidence to prove the trio's hand in the murder case, but they lack corroborative, circumstantial evidence. For instance, the murder weapons and the victims' cell phones are still to be found.

CBI's special magistrate Sapna Mishra granted bail to Krishna, medical assistant of Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar, while special magistrate Rama Jain granted bail to Raj Kumar, who is a domestic help of the Talwars' family friends, Anita and Praful Durrani.

The court refused to treat a set of recorded audio conversations between Hemraj and Raj Kumar, presented by public prosecutor Suresh Patra, as a proof of Raj Kumar's involvement in the case.

Public Prosecutor Suresh Batra opposed the grant of bail to Raj Kumar saying that he could escape to Nepal. However, defence lawyer Naresh Yadav pointed out that, "he could have done that after the incident itself. But he did not."

Krishna was released from Dasna Jail around 7.50p.m. on Friday after his relatives Bhim Bahadur Thapa and Sunita Thapa furnished a surety worth Rs 25,000.

Jail Superintendent V.K. Singh said Raj Kumar's release order had not arrived till late on Friday. He is likely to be released on Monday.