Dehradun
The Uttarakhand police have decided to hold court hearings of incarcerated gangsters through video conferencing in view of criminals either being gunned down by rivals or escaping from police custody, top officials said.
The daring killing of gangster Devpal Rana by two gunmen within the premises of the Roorkee court premises earlier this week and the August 2014 killing of a criminal, who gunned down by suspected rival gang members while he was being released from the Roorkee jail, have jolted the state police and forced it to adopt the security measure, police officials said.
On December 15, 2014, gangster Amit alias Bhura escaped from police custody while being taken by to a court in Baghpat by the Dehradun police for a hearing, the officials said.
These incidents have necessitated the need to conduct court hearings of incarcerated criminals through video conferencing as there can be a breach of security or attack while ferrying criminals to court, they said.
From now, most of the court hearings will be held through video conferencing to avoid such incidents, said Haridwar senior superintendent of police Krishna Kumar VK.
{{/usCountry}}From now, most of the court hearings will be held through video conferencing to avoid such incidents, said Haridwar senior superintendent of police Krishna Kumar VK.
{{/usCountry}}He, however, said it was necessary to take incarnated Devpal Rana in person, to court as charges against him were to be framed.
“In such cases, it is compulsory to take an accused to court in person as many formalities have to be completed”, he said.
He further said that 90% of court hearings of criminals were being conducted through video conferencing in which the accused sits in the jail and the judges conducted the hearing through a special screen installed in the court premises.
The method of video conferencing for incarcerated criminals was started after the escape of Bhura, said PVK Prasad, state inspector general of police (prisons).
“We have video conferencing facilities in all the districts of the state and from now, more security measures will be in place while taking criminals from jails to courts for framing of charges,” he said.