HC seeks status of court security after shootout
A day after an undertrial was gunned down by two people at Rohini court complex, it is learned that the Delhi High Court has sought a status report from city police on security arrangements at all the district courts in the capital.
Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal has asked the Delhi Polce to give an update on security structure of all six trial courts so that preventive measures could be put in place to avoid similar incidents in future, said a court source.
Unlike the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court, where security measures are on par with the those at the Parliament, trial courts continue to be ignored. Trial courts are particularly vulnerable since hardened criminals appear there personally to participate in the case proceedings.
On Saturday morning, a 38-year-old undertrial was gunned down by two people outside gate number 3 of Rohini court. Delhi Police have apprehended one of the shooters.
The deceased, Rajesh, was reportedly a member of the Neeraj Bawana gang and was wanted in more than 16 cases of robbery, murder and dacoity. He was arrested in December last year in a murder case in Agra, and was lodged in Jhajjar jail since then.
After they opened fire, the local police rushed the injured man to a hospital, while the Haryana Police chased the two men. The policemen guarding the court were also alerted and they ran to catch the shooters. They managed to nab one of the shooters from outside gate number 5. After being caught, he tried to shoot at the cops using another pistol but the weapon failed to go off.
Investigations revealed that Mohit and Satish had carried out a recce of the court premises thrice earlier to see the positioning of the cops. They even practiced fleeing the area on the bike.
This is not the first such incident to hit court premises in the past. Last year, a shootout took place at Karkardooma court complex exposing the chinks in the security arrangements at all the trial courts in Delhi.
In September 2011, a powerful blast outside Delhi high court gate number 5 had killed 11 people and injuring 62 others.
In July 2000, a man was shot at inside the Tis Hazari court precinct by a rival’s family member before the hearing of a murder case was to begin. Another firing incident inside the court premises took place in November 2003.