NEW DELHI: The search for transport department officials who helped the owner of the bus used in Nirbhaya gang rape , seems to have hit a dead end. The owner Dinesh Yadav , from Noida, was illegally running the chartered bus on Delhi roads, which was used on the fateful night to offer a lift to Nirbhaya and her friend. According to the crime branch, the transport department has mysteriously wiped out all the details on the bus available with them.

“Every time our sleuths go to the transport office, we are told that they cannot help us as they have not preserved the records. They say the bus was registered more than 10 year ago and all the files have been destroyed,” said a senior investigating officer.

Officers fear that without the papers and cooperation from the transport department, the minimum evidence will not be available and even retired traffic inspector Jai Bhagwan (60), who has been arrested, will go scot-free. “We are sure that other serving officers are complicit in the crime and hindrances are being posed to stall the investigations,” said an officer.

Ravinder Yadav, additional CP (crime), however, dismissed the claims. “We had retrieved the accused Jai Bhagwan’s name from the department’s computers. We are taking the help of cyber experts to ferret out more details. We have seized the necessary documents,” said Yadav.

The special operation squad of crime branch arrested Jai Bhagwan (60) from his home in Sadatpur Extension, east Delhi, last week. His bail plea will come up for hearing on Tuesday. Sources said Bhagwan retired as inspector at Mall Road Transport Authority in December last year. In its chargesheet against Dinesh Yadav, police noted that the accused had told them he had got his driving licence using forged documents and several transport officials had helped him. At Yadav's instance, police arrested one Rakam Singh, who helped him get a ration card with the address of Burari in north Delhi. Police said Yadav used this ration card to get a driving licence.

Sources said Bhagwan issued the licence to Yadav in 2005. Yadav then opened a bank account and got bus permits for 10 buses. The bus used in the crime did not have a permit or a fitness certificate. It was impounded six times in two years.