Dec 16 gangrape: No interim bail for accused Akshay

NEW DELHI, May 22: The plea of one of the accused in December 16 gangrape case for interim bail to visit his ailing mother in Bihar was today rejected by a fast track court here.
Noting that the accused had absconded and was arrested from his native village in Bihar after a nationwide hunt, Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna dismissed the plea of Akshay Thakur for interim bail for 15 days.
“The team which had gone to apprehend him at his native village had deposed the manner in which they had travelled in the Naxalite-prone area to apprehend the accused and further the accused has no roots in Delhi as admitted by defence counsel that he used to stay in the bus and these do not make out a case of interim bail for the accused,” the court said.
Akshay is one of the four adult accused facing trial for gangraping and assaulting a 23-year-old paramedic student in a moving bus here.
While seeking bail, Akshay’s counsel A P Singh submitted “since all the public witnesses in the case have already been examined and only the investigating officers are left to depose in the court, there is no scope for the accused to influence the police officials.” (PTI)