New Delhi, Dec 27: Three people, who said they witnessed constable Subhash Chand Tomar collapse during a protest in the capital, were questioned by the crime branch of Delhi Police Thursday.
Witness Yogendra Tomar, who is a journalism student, reached the crime branch office in Chankayapuri around 3 p.m.
"I am not under any kind of pressure. I will tell crime branch officials what I have been saying till now," Yogendra, in his 20s, told reporters while entering the office.
Constable Tomar, 47, collapsed near Tilak Marg during the anti-rape protest around India Gate Sunday and died of cardiac arrest early Tuesday. Police said he was trampled upon by the crowd.
Yogendra along with Pauline, another witness in her 20s, said the constable collapsed while chasing the crowd and that he was not beaten or trampled by the protesters.
The third witness, Salim Alvi, 31, who claimed that Tomar (constable) was beaten up by protesters, also came to the crime branch office.
Alvi, a social worker, Thursday volunteered to offer his statement after claiming that he saw the constable collapse.
Referring to the witnesses' questioning, Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime branch) S.B.S. Tyagi earlier told IANS: "We have called them today (Thursday)."
The case of the constable's death was handed over to crime branch Wednesday.
Two of the three witnesses have challenged the police version of the constable being beaten by the crowd.
Yogendra said Wednesday: "He (Tomar) wasn't assaulted or trampled."
"He fell on his own while chasing the crowd. In fact, many protesters came to help him," he said.
Pauline backed Yogendra's version and explained in detail how their efforts to revive the unconscious policeman failed.
She said she saw "no visible injuries" on the constable's body.
T.S. Sidhu, medical superintendent at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where Tomar died, had also said Wednesday that the constable had "no major external injury marks except for some cuts on his right knee and bruises on his chest" and "was brought here in a total collapsed stage".
Police are also collecting video footage from news channels to establish the sequence of events on the day of the incident.
Investigators Wednesday quoted an autopsy conducted on the constable which said he suffered "multiple internal injuries produced with the impact of a blunt object on his neck and chest". They did not talk about a mob attack.
