No bail for JNU gatecrashers

Court says it's too early to release the accused. Victims yet to record their statements

No bail for JNU gatecrashers

Court says it's too early to release the accused. Victims yet to record their statements

They posed as very influential guys who were connected to senior police officials and dared the security staff at the Jawaharlal Nehru University to do anything they wanted.

The boys accused of drinking and eve teasing on campus were denied bail by a city court on Tuesday. Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Singh observed that the case was in a nascent stage and statements of the victims are yet to be recorded.

The accused are presently in 14-day judicial custody.

The four accused, Nitin Kapoor, Gagan Kumar, Ankit Nanda and Amit Chauhan, were apprehended by the Delhi police on November 22 on charges of molestation, drinking at public place and disturbing peace.

During the bail plea arguments, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta and counsel Sulaiman Mohd Khan contended that the charge of outraging the modesty of a woman is a bailable offence.

They also argued that the charge of making a trespass was not made out as the accused did not enter any classroom or hostel.

The prosecutor, on the other hand, opposed their plea on the grounds that the police were yet to record the versions of the girl students who were allegedly molested by the four in an intoxicated state.

The case
A Group 4 security guard at JNU noticed four boys drinking inside a white Hyundai Accent car near the Pashchimabad gate on Sunday night. When he told them to immediately leave, the boys threatened him with a gun, which police claimed was a 'toy lighter'. After the guard left to call help, the boys indulged in eve teasing.

The police detained the accused but the news spread like wild fire and hundreds of students gathered at the main gate and closed it. They gheraoed the police van and demanded the boys be handed over to them. However, the cops refused to do so.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) HGS Dhaliwal tried to calm the nerves but his pleas fell on deaf ears. In the meantime, the crowd had swelled and tempers ran at an all time high. The students refused to budge from their demands.

The students also pelted stones at the car used by the four and damaged it while the cops lathicharged the crowd and fired tear gas shells.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels