Crime increasing so no leniency to criminals: Court

Advocating stern action against criminals, a Delhi court has sentenced a man to five years in jail for attempting a robbery at gun-point at a jeweller’s shop.

Advocating stern action against criminals, a Delhi court has sentenced a man to five years in jail for attempting a robbery at gun-point at a jeweller’s shop.

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Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) SS Rathi sentenced Ashok Kumar Solanki and also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him.

“Owing to the recent spurt of crime in Delhi, in my considered view, such criminals deserve to be dealt with sternly so that right message (can) be sent to the society that wrongdoers and violators of law will not be spared,” the judge said.

“Considering the totality of circumstances, he (Solanki) is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years for commission of the offences under Sections 392 (punishment for robbery) and Section 398 (attempting to commit robbery or dacoity armed with deadly weapon) of the Indian Penal Code,” the ASJ said while pronouncing Solanki guilty under the Arms Act.

The court, in its order, also observed that Solanki had made an ‘audacious’ attempt by entering the shop as a customer before whipping out a loaded country-made pistol and aiming it at the head of his intended victim. “But for the daredevilry shown by the victim, Sheikh Mashkoor Ali, in disarming the convict, he (Solanki) would have definitely succeeded in robbing him,” the court added.

The court, while awarding the sentence to Solanki, refused to be swayed by his plea for leniency, pointing out that he had “previously been involved in eight criminal cases.”