New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Monday asked Monday the Delhi government and the police as also WhatsApp, Google and Apple to respond to a plea of three JNU professors seeking that data, CCTV footage and other evidence relating to the January 5 violence on the varsity campus be preserved.
Delhi Police informed the court that it has asked the JNU administration to preserve and hand over the CCTV footage of the violence but has not yet received any response from the university.
Justice Brijesh Sethi issued the notice and listed the matter for further hearing Tuesday.
The court was informed by Delhi government Standing Counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra that police have written to the concerned authority in the varsity for preserving footage of 135 CCTVs installed there. He said police have also written to WhatsApp to preserve data, including messages, pictures, videos and phone numbers of members, of two groups – ‘Unity against Left’ and ‘Friends of RSS’ – on the social networking platform on which the attack was allegedly coordinated.
The police are taking steps regarding preservation of evidence, including video footage, and data and it has asked the varsity to provide CCTV footage between January 3 and January 6, informed Mehra.
The petition was filed by JNU professors Ameet Parameswaran, Atul Sood and Shukla Vinayak Sawant seeking directions to the Delhi Police Commissioner and Delhi government. It sought direction to the Delhi Police to retrieve all CCTV footage of JNU campus.
A mob of masked men January 5 stormed the campus and targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods by hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings.
Agencies
