NEW DELHI: In a major security lapse, a gang war took place inside a courtroom in east Delhi’s Karkardooma Court, killing a Delhi police constable and injuring two people on Wednesday.
According to the police, Metropolitan Magistrate Sunil Gupta also had a close shave as one of the bullets scraped past his chair and hit the wall behind him. The assailants, some of them are suspected to be minors, fired around 10 rounds. The four youths detained so far belong to northeast Delhi’s Seelampur and nearby areas.
“A case of murder has been registered and several teams are working on it. Four persons have been detained at the police post inside the court premises and are being questioned,” said a senior police official.
The deceased constable, identified as Ram Kumar, posted at Delhi Police’s third battalion, which is entrusted with the transport of undertrials between courts and prisons, was hit by four bullets.
The Delhi Government has announced a compensation of `1 crore to the family of the deceased policeman. The injured persons included the undertrial, Irfan, a history-sheeter who was being escorted, and the constable deployed at Court number 73 in Karkardooma court premises, where the incident took place around 11 AM, said a police official. Both Irfan and the constable sustained two bullet injuries each and were admitted to a hospital, where Kumar was declared brought dead, said the official.
The police are also looking for another youth who is believed to be a co-accused. Some lawyers had seen him videographing the firing inside the courtroom, said police.
The assailants were waiting for the undertrial to arrive. They tried to escape but lawyers and security personnel inside the court held them and handed them over to the police team which was rushed there following a PCR call.