New Delhi: In yet another case of security lapse that took place inside the Rohini court complex, a 31-year-old undertrial prisoner was shot dead by a contract killer when he was being escorted to the court’s lockup on Monday morning.
The incident has raised questions over the security of the court as to how the attacker managed to sneak into the court complex with a gun.
In-charge of police post at the court SI Narender has been placed under suspension, while Prashant Vihar SHO has been sent to district lines pending further inquiry.
According to the police, the incident took place at around 11.40 am. DCP (Rohini district) Rishipal Singh said the deceased has been identified as Vinod, a resident of Mangolpuri, while the attacker has been identified as Abdul Khan, a resident of Nangloi. Police sources said that the deceased was produced before the court of metropolitan magistrate Sushil Kumar after the expiry of his judicial custody. The court extended his custody for next 14 days.
“He was being taken to the court’s lockup from where he was to be sent to jail. ASI Balram was escorting him. Meanwhile, when they reached near the canteen and police post, Khan, who had been waiting for Vinod, pumped a bullet in his stomach and tried to run but was overpowered by the cops,” sources said.
Vinod was immediately rushed to a nearby government hospital, where he was declared dead.
Mr Singh said that a case of cheating was lodged against the deceased in 2010 in which he was arrested on September 30.
“He was in judicial custody in Tihar. On Monday, his custody expired, after which he was produced before the court by the cops. Khan, his attacker, told us that he was hired by someone else to murder Vinod,” Mr Singh said.
However, the official was not sure about the actual motive behind the murder.
A police source close to the investigation said that Vinod had cheated a businessman to the tune of around '15 lakh by selling him a piece of land on the basis of forged documents. When the businessman came across the fact that Vinod had cheated him by handing him fake documents, he demanded his money back. Vinod gave him a cheque, which later bounced. The businessman had then lodged a case against Vinod in Rohini (South) police station.
Sources said that Khan might have been hired by the businessman who was duped by the deceased.
