On night she was killed, Arushi’s cell ‘died’ long before her routine

An outgoing girl as her friends describe her, Arushi Talwar was also on the phone a lot.

An outgoing girl as her friends describe her, Arushi Talwar was also on the phone a lot. Other than her landline calls, her cellphone recorded close to 1100 “transactions” — calls dialled and received, messages sent and received — in the 15 days before she was murdered on the night of May 15-16. Her cellphone is missing.

But a scrutiny of its records, obtained by The Sunday Express, shows that on the night Arushi was last seen alive, the last activity on her cellphone is at 9.10 pm. She was killed, police say, at least four hours later, between 1 and 2 am on May 16.

What makes this puzzling — and has led investigators to suspect that there may have been a conflict at home that evening — is that this is “unusually early.”

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For, since May 1, the last activity on the phone has always been anytime between 11.20 pm and 1.08 am.

In fact, just the previous night, on May 14, she received an SMS at 1.08 am. Also, there are at least 10 transactions every day after 9:10 in the two weeks before her death while there were none that night.

Adding to the puzzle is the fact, investigators say, that Arushi’s friend Anmol has called her landline at around 11:30 PM. “The call had been received and lasted 34 seconds,” he said. Her father Rajesh Talwar denies any call.

Consider the last transaction on her phone each day since May 1, as per records:

• May 1: 11:22 pm (SMS received)

• May 2: 12:50 am (SMS received)

• May 3: 12:58 am (SMS received)

• May 4: 12:30 am (SMS sent)

• May 5: 11:49 pm (SMS received)

• May 6: 12:12 am (Call received)

• May 7: 12:39 am (SMS received)

• May 8: 12:19 am (SMS received)

• May 9: 12:39 am (SMS received)

• May 10: 12:39 am (SMS received)

• May 11: 11:29 pm (Call received)

• May 12: 11:20 pm (Call received)

• May 13: 12:25 am (SMS received)

• May 14: 01:08 am (SMS received)

• May 15: 9:10 pm (LAST SMS received)

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On May 15, the last call received was at 9.06 pm. This could mean either of three things, police officials say. Her phone battery died and it was never recharged, she received no calls or messages after 9.10 pm or her phone was switched off and/or taken away.

“What is clear is that Arushi didn’t use her phone after 9.10 pm that night,” said a senior Noida police officer. “It’s unusual given her daily record and we are exploring it. Maybe her phone was confiscated.”

The parents of Arushi, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, had told the police during interrogation that they had dinner together on the night of May 15 at around 10 pm.

The driver of the Talwars, Umesh Sharma, had also told the media that he had last seen the girl around 9. 40 pm when the family were sitting for dinner.

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