Anti-rape stir: DMRC asked to respond to alibi plea of accused

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 for tomorrow (rpt tomorrow) as DMRC and Crime Branch had failed to respond to its yesterday's notice.

"Issue fresh notice to file the report to investigating officer of Crime Branch (of 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 Crime Branch.

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, accused have been booked under section 302 (murder) of the IPC, said police which has now handed over the probe to its Crime Branch.

The mass protest at India Gate, against the gangrape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus here, had turned violent on December 23 in which the constable had allegedly received injuries.