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Sanjeev Jeeva Murder: Lawyers stage sit-in over security lapse in Lucknow court, decry ‘failure of law & order’
To protest the lapse in security, hundreds of lawyers assembled at the spot following the sensational murder and demanded the resignation of the Lucknow Police Commissioner.
LUCKNOW Slogans shaming U.P. Police were raised outside the gates of the Lucknow district court as lawyers staged a sit-in protest soon after unidentified assailants gunned down gangster Sanjeev Jeeva inside the court premises on Wednesday.
To protest the lapse in security, hundreds of lawyers assembled at the spot following the sensational murder and demanded the resignation of the Lucknow Police Commissioner. In view of the situation, a huge force of police was deployed at the court.
“This is a way to taint the lawyers’ fraternity and we won’t accept it,” said the group of lawyers who were blocking the main gate of the court. “This is a complete failure of law and order in the state. If guns are shot inside the courtroom in the presence of police personnel, who is safe in the state,” the lawyers asked in unison.
To pacify the situation, all senior police officials reached the protesting site and requested the lawyers to end the protest. DCP Central Aparna Rajat Kaushik urged the protesting lawyers to call off the demonstration. However, her calls didn’t invoke the desired response.
Meanwhile, Upendra Kumar Agarwal, Joint Commissioner of Police, Law & Order, Lucknow Police, who also reached the incident site, said, “This is not the time to blame anyone. It is a matter of investigation. We cannot comment on the matter right now... Currently, our priority is to provide the best treatment and save life.”
Close shave for lawyers, say eye-witnesses
As per eyewitnesses of the sensation shootout, the incident took place around 4 pm inside the SC/ST courtroom. The lawyers have alleged that police officials were trying to run and save themselves rather than getting on top of the situation during the shootout.
“Approximately 5-6 rounds of bullets were fired. At the time, the police were busy on their mobile phone. They did nothing to maintain law and order. When the shooter started firing, the cops present in the SC/ST court started running helter-skelter. Thankfully, a few lawyers got hold of the accused when he started running,” said Arun Shukla, a lawyer and an eyewitness to the event. “Police tried to save themselves, but we fought. The criminal threatened to fire a bullet at us but we stood still and finally managed to catch hold of him,” he added.
“The shooter came inside the court premises posing as a lawyer. So, at first, it was a little confusing but when we saw him firing, we immediately ran towards him without fearing for our life. We caught the shooter before the police,” said another eyewitness, SP Singh, a lawyer.
‘Before shootout, an advocate was chased with knife inside court’
According to protesting lawyers, the shootout was the second incident of a security lapse inside the court on Wednesday. Only an hour before Sanjeev Jeeva’s shooting, a female advocate inside the court premises was allegedly chased by her husband who was armed with a knife while the police stood in silence and were busy with their mobile phones, said lawyers.
“Around 3:30 pm, a female advocate was chased by her husband, an Azamgarh resident who works as Vidhan Sabha review officer. He entered the custom courtroom with a knife and attempted to attack her but cops stood silent. So, we were actually protesting outside the case about the security gap when we heard the other news,” said SP Singh.
“How come two such incidents happened on the same day even with a heavy presence of the security force in the court,” asked Parvesh Singh, another practicing lawyer. “Police deployed here only invest their time in mobiles; this is why criminal incidents have become common in the court,” the lawyers alleged.
