‘Can share info on protester’s death’
Police on Thursday told the Delhi high court, which was hearing a plea on Thursday over the death of a farmer protester during the tractor rally on Republic Day, they have nothing to hide and were willing to share CCTV footage of the incident with the deceased’s family. According to police, 25-yearold Navreet Singh died of injuries sustained after his tractor overturned during the protest on January 25. Advocate Rahul Mehra, standing counsel for the
Delhi government (criminal cases), informed justice Yogesh Khanna that the police have no hesitancy in sharing the evidence and case documents with Navreet Singh’s grandfather, who has sought a courtmonitored probe into the incident. Navreet’s grandfather Hardeep Singh has alleged that his grandson was shot by the police.
NEW DELHI: The police on Thursday told the Delhi high court that they have nothing to hide in the death of a 25-year-old farmer during the tractor rally on Republic Day. Police reiterated that farmer Navreet Singh had died of injuries sustained after his tractor overturned during the parade and said they were ready to share the CCTV footage of the incident.
Advocate Rahul Mehra, standing counsel for the Delhi government, informed justice Yogesh Khanna that the police have no hesitancy in sharing the evidence and case documents with Navreet Singh’s grandfather, who had approached the high court seeking sought a court-monitored probe into the death of his grandson.
“We have no hesitancy in sharing the documents and CCTV clips related to the case. We will preserve them and give them whenever they are required,” Mehra told the court, while terming Singh’s death as “unfortunate”.
The police also told the court that they have registered a general FIR in the case.
Navreet’s grandfather Hardeep Singh, through his counsel Vrinda Grover and Soutik Banerjee, alleged that his grandson was shot by the police during the tractor parade as a result of which his tractor overturned and rammed the barricades.
The petition also said the
Delhi Police had falsely declared that Singh had died due to the accidental overturning of the tractor even despite not fairly investigating the cause of death.
Arguing for the grandfather, advocate Grover told the court that the way Delhi Police has conducted themselves in the matter “does not inspire a shred of confidence”.
She said the Andhra School Society, outside which the tractor had overturned, had several cameras and the police had barged into the school (Republic Day being a holiday), and taken away the DVR of all the CCTV cameras. She said the police had then selectively released a piece of the footage -- one that offers only a long shot of the incident and hence is not very clear.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court denied bail on Thursday to activist Akhil Gogoi, lodged in a Guwahati jail for his alleged role in the violent anti-caa protests in Assam. A bench of justices N V Ramana, Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose dismissed the plea, saying, “We will not consider the petition at this stage.” It, however, told advocate Runamoni Bhuyan that Gogoi may approach the top court for bail once the trial starts. Gogoi challenged Gauhati HC’S January 7 order which rejected his bail plea.