The crime branch and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation were issued fresh notices on Thursday by a court in New Delhi on the plea of two youths that they were not part of the violent, anti-rape protests at India Gate on December 23 in which a constable had allegedly got injured and died two days later.
The two youths, Kailash Joshi and his brother Amit, have moved the court for its directions to police and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for preserving the December 23 video footage of Rajiv Chowk and Rithala metro stations to prove their pleas of alibi.
The two have been accused along with six others of being part of the violent protest in which the constable was injured. The court issued fresh notices as the DMRC and crime branch had failed to respond to its Thursday's notice.
"Issue fresh notice to file the report to investigating officer of the crime branch (of the Delhi police) and DMRC," Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh said after nobody appeared from the DMRC and city police submitted the probe into the incident has now been transferred to the crime branch.
The police should be reprimanded for not serving the notice to the DMRC, said advocate Somnath Bharti, while appearing for all eight accused during the hearing.
Besides the two brothers, six others -- Nafees, Shankar Bisht, Nand Kumar, Shantanu Kumar, Abhishek and Chaman Kumar -- have been made accused for allegedly taking part in protests which later turned violent and in which Constable Subhash Chand Tomar had allegedly got injured.
All the accused were granted bail on December 24.
Tomar, however, died later and consequently, the accused have been booked under section 302 (murder) of the IPC, said the police, which has now handed over the probe to its Crime Branch.
The mass protest at India Gate, against the gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in New Delhi, had turned violent on December 23 in which the constable had allegedly received injuries.
© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
