Whodunit? The murder mysteries that endure

Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor
Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in her suite at Delhi's Leela Palace hotel on January 17 2014, a day after her spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar went public on Twitter. She had alleged that Tarar and Tharoor had had an affair. It took the Delhi Police almost a year to file a case of murder in the much-discussed case. Sunanda's body had 15 marks caused about 12 hours before her death. These included a bite and an injection mark. All injuries on her body "were caused by blunt force, simple in nature and not contributing to death, except injury, which is an injection mark", states the post-mortem report. It says that an injection mark on Sunanda's right wrist caused her death. Police are now awaiting a viscera report to ascertain the nature of the injection. A report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) says that Sunanda died of poisoning. A special investigation team (SIT) formed to investigate the case has recently questioned Tharoor in this regard.

Status: Though the police has filed a case of murder, it is yet to name any person. Apart from Tharoor, who is a best-selling author, former UN diplomat and Congress leader, friends and help of the family are being questioned. The police have said they will also probe the Indian Premier League (IPL) angle.

Aarushi Talwar
On May 16, 2008, 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar, the daughter of dentists Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, was found with her throat slit in her room in Noida's Jal Vayu Vihar. The next morning, the police found the body of the family's domestic help Hemraj on the terrace of the Talwars' residence. In the years since the double murder sent gossip mills into a tizzy, the case has seen many twists and turns.
The Uttar Pradesh police first took Rajesh Talwar into custody and alleged that he had acted in rage after finding Aarushi and Hemraj in an "objectionable but not compromising" position. Then Chief Minister Mayawati handed the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the needle of suspicion swivelled to Krishna Thadarai, the helper at the Talwars' clinic, his friend Rajkumar, a domestic help with the Talwars' friends, and Vijay Mandal, a driver. However, these findings were discarded and in 2009, a second CBI team was constituted to look into the case afresh. A year later, the trio was cleared and the involvement of Rajesh Talwar was again hinted at. The team filed a closure report in the case on December 29, 2010 citing "insufficient evidence". This was, however, rejected by the district magistrate who ordered that the Talwars should stand trial. "In such a case where the incident has happened inside the home, visible evidence cannot be ignored," the court had said. The CBI pressed the theory that the Talwars were the only ones present on the night of the murders and hence, circumstantial evidence pointed to their involvement.

Status: In November 2013, the Talwars were convicted by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad and sentenced to life imprisonment. Both are in Dasna jail and have moved the Allahabad High Court against the order.

The Nithari Killings
In December 2006, the nation was left shocked when human remains were discovered in a drain behind businessman Moninder Singh Pandher's bungalow in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi. Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli were arrested. Police said the remains belonged to 19 young women and children from Nithari village in Noida, allegedly raped and killed by Koli in Pandher's bungalow. Koli, who reportedly confessed to cannibalism and necrophilia and had told the police that Pandher would bring prostitutes home, was sentenced to death by a lower court. This was upheld by the Allahabad High Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court. In one case, both were awarded death. Following an appeal, the high court acquitted Pandher of all charges while upholding Koli's punishment. In October last year, the Allahabad High Court stayed Koli's execution order and sought a reply from the central government and the Uttar Pradesh government over it.

Status: Pandher was released from Dasna jail in September last year while the noose continues to hover over Koli, who had 16 cases registered against him. He was shifted to Dasna from Meerut, where he had been taken to face the gallows, in September.

Esther Anuhya
The murder of 23-year-old Esther Anuhya is one case that even the hardened Mumbai police will never forget. Esther, who worked with Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) as a software engineer and lived in Andheri, had gone home to Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh for Christmas and returned to Mumbai on January 5, 2014. She got off at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Kurla and went missing. Her family approached the police but were forced to launch a hunt themselves when they didn't get an adequate response. On January 16, the family found her charred remains from the bushes near Tata Nagar Colony in Bhandup.
This led to a major public uproar and questions were raised regarding safety and security of women in the city and police approach towards sensitive cases. The case was then transferred to the Crime Branch. After months of investigation, they nabbed taxi driver Chandrabhan Sanap on March 2. Investigations revealed that Sanap had offered to drop Esther home in his taxi and later induced her to accompany him on his motorcycle. He then took her to an isolated area and attempted to rape her. When she resisted, Sanap murdered her and also tried to set her body on fire. The police recovered Esther's trolley bag, clothes and the motorcycle used in the crime. Sanap was also caught on LTT's CCTV cameras with Esther. The incident forced the police to take several measures introducing women's safety, including an Anti-Sexual Harassment Squad at every police station, an SMS helpline for female commuters, help desks at major railway terminals and the In Case of an Emergency (ICE) mobile app.

Status: Chargesheets have been filed against Sanap. The trial started last week.

Scientist M. Padmanabhan Iyer
On February 23, 2010, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) scientist M. Padmanabhan Iyer was found dead in a high-security, BARC residential building at Breach Candy. Neighbours had complained to the police after a foul smell emanated from his apartment. Police found condoms and a nylon rope near Iyer's body. The post-mortem revealed that he was assaulted with a blunt object, which led to internal bleeding in the brain. The report also suggested that Iyer had had unnatural sex before his death. Police probed the gay angle into the murder and questioned several members of the gay and transgender community to get leads. However, there was little headway and, after pursuing the case for two years, the investigation was closed and the police filed a summary report in the court stating that the case of murder was true, but a culprit could not be detected.
"It is very difficult to interact with the gay community as many of them do not want to come out in the open. We even attended gay parties in the hope of getting clues, but all in vain. We visited a club in Colaba where gay parties are organised every week. We tried to convince the people there to help us as a majority of the members know each other. But people refused to co-operate," said an officer who was part of the investigation.

Status: The case continues to be closed and the question of who murdered Iyer still hangs in the air.

Beer Man Mystery
Seven murders took place between October 2006 and January 2007 in south Mumbai. The police found similarities and said these could have been committed by a serial killer. The news came as a shock, especially to joggers and morning walkers in the upscale area. All the murders were committed near railway tracks and a can of beer was found near all seven victims, prompting the unknown killer to be dubbed 'Beer Man'. Finally, a man called Ravindra Kantrole was arrested on suspicion. He was convicted by the Sewree fast track court and sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly murdering a man on a foot overbridge near Marine Lines on January 11, 2007. The victim was stabbed nearly 20 times in his chest, abdomen, arms and thighs. Subsequently, Kantrole was charged with three murders. In September 2009, the Bombay High Court overruled the lower court and declared Kantrole 'not guilty' of the killings.

Status: With Kantrole's acquittal, the question continues – who was the serial killer of south Mumbai?