Rioting case: Police seek time to study Metro footage

The Delhi Police Crime Branch has asked a city court to give it "at least one week's time" to scrutinise the CCTV footage preserved by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for Sunday.

Kailash and Amit Joshi, two of the eight men arrested on charges of unlawful assembly and rioting at India Gate last Sunday, had filed an application before the court stating they were not present there and were travelling in the Metro at the time of the violence.

The court on Wednesday had issued notice to the DMRC and police to preserve footage from CCTV cameras as requested by the accused.

Both the DMRC and police submitted their status reports in the case on Friday.

The DMRC, in its report to Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh, stated that it has preserved the CCTV footage from cameras installed at the Rajiv Chowk and Rithala Metro stations for Sunday evening.

"It is being submitted that available footage of the CCTV cameras installed at Rithala and Rajiv Chowk Metro stations for date 23.12.2012 from 3 pm to 6 pm has been preserved in the system and is available for aid in investigation by police," the DMRC report said. "The CCTV footage will be made available to the court/ investigation agencies whenever required."

The DMRC has also told the court that the footage is only preserved in the system for seven days and is automatically deleted after that.

The Crime Branch, which told the court that the investigation case file was received by the branch on Thursday, also said that the investigation was in the initial stage and the DMRC had already been served notice to provide the relevant CCTV footage.

In its one-page report, the investigation agency has also sought directions for the two accused to join the probe "so that the route and way adopted by them during the Metro journey can be ascertained for early scrutiny of CCTV footage".

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