Friday, May 27 2005 19:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The beleaguered Delhi police, groping for more clues in the sensational Delhi University student gangrape case, got some relief today (May 27, 2005) with a city court granting them four more days time for the custodial interrogation of the main accused.

Metropolitan Magistrate V K Khanna extended till May 31 the police custody of Ajit Kumar Katiyar, arrested from Noida on May 13, after police sought more time for his interrogation for extracting vital clues regarding the whereabouts of his three accomplices and recovering a rod, a country-made pistol and two cars used in the incident.

Police, who so far failed to make much headway despite securing ten-day custody of the accused on May 17, told the court that they wanted to take the accused to Aligarh following an information that one of his accomplice was hiding there.

Police have already taken the accused to various places in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal as part of investigation.

Questioning the police request for extending the remand, the counsel for the accused told the court that his client "was being tortured in custody" and was not taken anywhere as claimed by the police as he had "nothing to do with the case".

The girl was allegedly abducted at gunpoint from Dhaula Kuan in South Delhi and raped while being driven around the city for two-and-half hours in the early hours of May 8.

The victim had identified the accused during a test identification parade conducted inside the Tihar jail on May 17.