With check over, court releases seized SUV in coaching centre case

New Delhi: A court on Wednesday allowed an application of SUV driver Manuj Kathuria, an accused in a case of the death of three civil services aspirants in Old Rajender Nagar in July, for the release of his vehicle from the CBI custody. The order was passed after Central Bureau of Investigation submitted that a motor vehicle inspector had completed the inspection of the SUV.The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Nishant Garg was hearing the plea for the release of Kathuria's Force Gurkha. CBI, in its two-page status report, stated that the inspection was carried out by the motor vehicle inspector concerned on Aug 30. The court imposed various conditions, including the proper panchnama of the SUV and the investigation officer (IO) taking its photos from all angles, including those of its chassis and engine number. The IO will also get the vehicle valued and obtain a valuation report, and the applicant will file a security bond, according to the report, to the satisfaction of the IO, the court instructed. After the court heard on Aug 21 the petition moved by Kathuria, who was represented by advocates Rakesh Malhotra and Kushal Malhotra, CBI said on Aug 28 that the vehicle was examined by a team from IIT Delhi. According to the FIR, Kathuria, on the day of the incident, drove the SUV so fast through a waterlogged road that a wave was created and it flooded the basement of the building housing Rau's IAS Study Circle, killing the three aspirants.CBI said a team of experts from IIT Delhi was engaged to opine if the wave created by the vehicle could lead to so much pressure that the main gates of the coaching institute would collapse, flooding the basement. Kathuria had got bail on Aug 1 after Delhi Police said the offence under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was not sufficiently established at this stage. On Aug 2, the case was transferred to CBI following Delhi High Court's directions.
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