Police asked to file reports on letters rogatory, forensics

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja issued notice to the special cell of Delhi police and also directed them to file reports on the forensic examination of mobile phone and laptop allegedly used for committing the offence.

The court, which posted the matter for next hearing on February 5, 2010, had on November 19 granted bail to Junaid Khan, a Mumbai-based businessman accused of extortion on the basis of Anoushka's private photographs, saying the trial of the case was likely to take more time and no useful purpose will be served by keeping the accused behind bars.

It had also taken into account the facts that the forensic reports of the laptop and mobile phone which were allegedly used by Khan to hack emails accounts of Anoushka to obtain her private photographs were still awaited.

The court had last month issued letters rogatory to the US authorities at the request of the police for collecting evidence from Google Inc. Letters rogatory is a formal legal document issued through the Court on behalf of an investigating agency to provide for documents and sharing of relevant details with other countries.

In addition to the complaint made by Pandit Ravi Shankar to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Anoushka had herself sent a complaint to the Delhi Police on September one from the US following the threats.

According to the police, Khan had sent threatening emails to Anoushka after creating an email in the name of [e-mail] on her personal and official IDs.
She said some materials, including her pictures, were stolen from her laptop which she had submitted to a South Delhi-based service centre on February 8 last year.

The police alleged Khan had first sent threatening emails from the UAE and then from Mumbai. He was nailed on November 14 after the police found that the phone number allegedly used for the purpose had been registered in Khan's name. Khan was booked under IPC provisions relating to extortion and theft, among other offences.
The police had filed the chargesheet in the case on November 11.