<p>A court here Tuesday sent three people, arrested in connection with the death of a student from Arunachal Pradesh, to judicial custody till Feb 18. Two of the accused said they were "innocent witnesses" who were "illegally roped in as accused".<br /><br /></p>.<p>Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Kumar remanded Sunder Singh, Pawan Farmania and Farman to judicial custody till Feb 18.<br /><br />Nido Taniam, the 19-year-old student, was beaten up by shopkeepers in south Delhi's Lajpat Nagar area following a quarrel over his appearance and clothing. He died in a hospital Jan 30.<br /><br />The three accused have been booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.<br />The court listed the matter for bail hearing Feb 6 and instructed police to conduct a test identification parade of the accused on the same day.<br /><br />During investigation, six people, out of whom two are juveniles, were found to be involved in the case, police said Monday.<br /><br />Police told the magistrate that they have not added murder charges against the accused. It will be done on the basis of the post-mortem report.<br /><br />The final post-mortem report from the medical board at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is awaited.<br /><br />A murder case was lodged over Tania's death and a special investigation team constituted under the direct supervision of the deputy commissioner of police, southeast Delhi.<br /><br />Meanwhile, two of the accused told the court that they were witnesses in the incident.<br />"We are witness in the case but police implicated us," said advocate Shalabh Gupta, counsel of Sunder Singh and Pawan Farmania.<br /><br />The advocate requested the court to grant bail to his clients, saying they will not tamper with the evidence.<br /><br />"It is a matter of grave concern that innocent witnesses have been harassed and illegally roped in as accused," he said.<br /><br />Relatives of the two accused also said they were innocent and asked the magistrate for justice to Singh and Farmania.<br /><br />"No one will come forward to become witnesses in a case if police falsely implicates people like this," said a relative of one of the duo.<br /><br />The defence counsel also told the court that Singh called the police and informed them about the incident and thus cannot be termed as an accused.<br /><br />Various organisations and students from the northeastern states, demanding justice over Taniam's killing, have held protests in the city.<br /><br />Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Monday met a group of students from the northeast and assured justice and strict action over Taniam's death.</p>
<p>A court here Tuesday sent three people, arrested in connection with the death of a student from Arunachal Pradesh, to judicial custody till Feb 18. Two of the accused said they were "innocent witnesses" who were "illegally roped in as accused".<br /><br /></p>.<p>Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Kumar remanded Sunder Singh, Pawan Farmania and Farman to judicial custody till Feb 18.<br /><br />Nido Taniam, the 19-year-old student, was beaten up by shopkeepers in south Delhi's Lajpat Nagar area following a quarrel over his appearance and clothing. He died in a hospital Jan 30.<br /><br />The three accused have been booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.<br />The court listed the matter for bail hearing Feb 6 and instructed police to conduct a test identification parade of the accused on the same day.<br /><br />During investigation, six people, out of whom two are juveniles, were found to be involved in the case, police said Monday.<br /><br />Police told the magistrate that they have not added murder charges against the accused. It will be done on the basis of the post-mortem report.<br /><br />The final post-mortem report from the medical board at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is awaited.<br /><br />A murder case was lodged over Tania's death and a special investigation team constituted under the direct supervision of the deputy commissioner of police, southeast Delhi.<br /><br />Meanwhile, two of the accused told the court that they were witnesses in the incident.<br />"We are witness in the case but police implicated us," said advocate Shalabh Gupta, counsel of Sunder Singh and Pawan Farmania.<br /><br />The advocate requested the court to grant bail to his clients, saying they will not tamper with the evidence.<br /><br />"It is a matter of grave concern that innocent witnesses have been harassed and illegally roped in as accused," he said.<br /><br />Relatives of the two accused also said they were innocent and asked the magistrate for justice to Singh and Farmania.<br /><br />"No one will come forward to become witnesses in a case if police falsely implicates people like this," said a relative of one of the duo.<br /><br />The defence counsel also told the court that Singh called the police and informed them about the incident and thus cannot be termed as an accused.<br /><br />Various organisations and students from the northeastern states, demanding justice over Taniam's killing, have held protests in the city.<br /><br />Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Monday met a group of students from the northeast and assured justice and strict action over Taniam's death.</p>