Murder exposes chinks in Chandigarh’s Sector 43 district court’s security
Chandigarh district court building sees a footfall of around 10,000 people daily including lawyers, court staff and litigants.
The shooting incident on the second floor of the four-storeyed district court building in Sector 43 on Saturday has exposed the lackadaisical security measures in place.
Chandigarh district court building sees a footfall of around 10,000 people daily including lawyers, court staff and litigants.
Not only did the retired assistant inspector general (AIG) of the Punjab Police manage to sneak in a .32-bore revolver, he was able to shoot his son-in-law dead with no security present to assist the victim.
Even as the police are still hunting for clues as to how the retired AIG managed to sneak in the weapon undetected and which entrance he used to enter the court on Saturday, no CCTV cameras installed on the second floor will make the cops’ task of piecing together the sequence of events difficult.
“There is no metal detector present at the back gate of the court premises where construction is going on. We suspect that the accused used the back gate to enter with the weapon,” a police official said, pleading anonymity.
In addition, there is no security deputed at the family courts and anyone can easily bypass the metal detectors too.
“While no frisking is done as advocates object to the same, high profile police officers and officials can walk in without any security check,” the above-quoted official said.
“There is no metal detector installed at the back gate. This was an incident waiting to happen,” said advocate NK Nanda. Current district bar association head advocate Rohit Khullar, however, said: “Security measures are in place at the courts.”