Former CBI officer Arun Kumar, who initially investigated the Aarushi murder case, said the portrayal of investigations into the double-murder case is 70-80% true in film 'Talvar'.
"It is very close to reality. The crux of the issue is portrayed very accurately in the movie and it is also 70%-80% accurate in the depiction of the facts as they actually happened. It is as true to life as it could have been," Kumar told The Times of India in an interview.
"The taking over of the case, the sound test, the washed away hand print, the finding of the golf club - many scenes are almost exact reconstructions of what happened, how things unfolded," he added.
"Talvar" is the adaptation of the 2008 Aarushi murder case, in which her parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were found guilty and given life sentence. The film portrays what is considered the loopholes in police investigation – the police "failed" to collect some critical evidence from the crime scene.
"Forensic samples were never collected and if they had been, then the case could have been solved very easily," Kumar, who believes that Talwars are innocent, said, according to NDTV.
The case of the murder of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar's daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj Banjade in 2008 in Noida was initially being investigated by the Uttar Pradesh police but was handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation later on. Kumar was appointed as the investigating officer.
During the investigation led by his team, Kumar discovered that Talwars did not kill their own daughter, as claimed by the Uttar Pradesh police. According to the CBI's initial investigation two servants were found to be guilty of both the murders.
However, after Kumar was removed from the investigation and the case was handed over to officer AGL Kaul, the servants were released and CBI adopted the earlier theory of honour killing.
Kumar still insists that Talwars did not kill their daughter. He agreed with the dialogue from the film where Irrfan Khan, who played the role of Kumar, said, "but didn't the supposed killer himself find it (murder weapon) and give it to you." He said that entire episode was truly portrayed.
"Jaisa uss mein dikhaya gaya hai, woh bilkul true hai. The second CBI team had seen in photographs that two golf clubs were in Hemraj's room. While they located one, the other remained untraced. It wasn't found for some time and then it was Talwar himself who searched for it, found it in the attic and gave it to the CBI, just the way it is shown in the film," Kumar said.
Kumar, who is now Additional DG, Central Reserve Police Force, said that there are evidences that may help prove that the servants killed Aarushi and Hemraj, and not the Talwars.
"The hand print on the wall was taken and it is lying with the CBI. During my time, there was an advanced system of touch DNA in UK. There are advanced techniques abroad that can extract DNA from even the smallest portion. I had ensured that even though the hand print was washed in rain, that part was cut and brought," he explained.
"Even that bottle must be lying with the CBI. The fingerprints were there but as there was contamination, we couldn't get any evidence.It wasn't sealed and in the film they show that the person collects the bottle without wearing gloves. Actually, the bottle was collected after four-five days and that too when the media pointed it out. But by then all the fingerprints were lost."
He said that the DNA can be extracted even today but the evidences need to be sent to the UK for tests as they have an advanced system.
"It's possible that the DNA can be extracted from the pillow covers, or other places, even now. This piece of evidence was with the CBI, there was the option to send it abroad for more detailed forensic examination, and a conscious call was taken not to send it," Kumar said.
