In eight weeks, when the Arushi-Hemraj murder case comes up before the Supreme Court Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will have no new piece of information to give the court regarding investigations in the case.

The CBI will be filing a status report informing the Supreme Court about the number of witnesses examined, evidence collected and tests conducted on suspects in the last over thirteen and a half months. CBI sources said there is no substantial development in the case till now.

The sources also admitted that they are still not in a position to file a chargesheet in the case, and would be asking for more time from the Supreme Court to look for more substantial evidence — the mobile phones of Arushi and Hemraj and the murder weapon — to finish investigations and prove their case.

A few weeks ago, the CBI had claimed that they ‘would be filing a final report in the court soon’, which did not happen. Officials said the CBI would now try to build their case on the basis of scientific evidence, forensic examination, and narco-analyses and brain-mapping tests conducted on the three accused — Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal. All three are presently out on bail.

The CBI is also in the process of taking legal opinion on filing a final report.

The CBI has not submitted any report in the court after it failed to file a chargesheet in the case on September 9 last year. The agency took over investigation in the case on May 31 last year and arrested Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal, claiming that the three had killed Arushi and Hemraj on the night of May 15.

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