Rajesh Talwar left bleeding by person who attacked Rathore

Ghaziabad: Dentist Rajesh Talwar, father of slain teenager Aarushi, was today attacked and injured outside a court here by the same man who had stabbed former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, a convict in the Ruchika molestation case.

54-year-old Talwar, was rushed to a hospital by his lawyers after he was left profusely bleeding in the attack by Utsav Sharma, a graduate of National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad), and doctors later described his condition as stable.

Sharma, 30, a resident of Varanasi, who had come here from Delhi, took Talwar by surprise as he came out of the court after filing a petition challenging the CBI's closure report in the Aarushi-Hemraj twin murder case.

Sharma, who was nabbed after the incident, slashed Talwar's face and hands with a cleaver, leaving him bleeding, Senior Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad), Raghuvir Lal, said. He has been arrested under section 307 IPC (attempt to murder).

Talwar, who was initially rushed to nearby Sarvodaya Hospital by his lawyers, was later shifted to Delhi's Apollo Hospital where he underwent surgery.

"His condition is stable. He has undergone a surgery in the right temporal region of the face and in the hands as they had deep cuts. Two arteries in the forehead were cut badly and that is why he bled too much. He has undergone a plastic surgery of the face," a senior doctor said.

"He (Sharma) is the same person who had attacked Rathore outside a Panchkula court in February last year," Lal said.

Rathore was stabbed by Sharma, who was then a student in NID, with a pen knife, injuring him in the cheek as he came out of the court.

In a similar modus operandi, police said, Sharma attacked Talwar with a cleaver as he came out of the court and was walking towards towards the lawyers' chambers.

Lal said Sharma, who was sipping tea at a kiosk, suddenly took out a cleaver, used for chopping meat, from his bag and slashed the right side of Talwar's face. He attacked him again slashing him palms, he said.

The lawyer accompanying Talwar and his family members pounced on Sharma amidst commotion and shouting by nearby shopkeepers and bystanders.

Sharma was slapped and punched by some lawyers present nearby before he was whisked away into a lockup in the court premises.

Over 150 lawyers, who had assembled there, shouted slogans against police.

Some of the lawyers vented their anger on media personnel present there and even roughed up a few journalists and smashed a video camera and the windscreens of vans belonging to two leading news channels.

Following the incident, special CBI court judge Preeti Singh adjourned the proceedings in the case till February 8.