Court orders convicted cops to be transported in high security

Apprehending violence among 17 Uttarakhand cops convicted in the fake encounter case of an MBA student, a Delhi court today asked police to provide "high security" to them during transit between jail and court.
Concerns that trouble may erupt were conveyed by the Tis Hazari lock-up in-charge who followed it up with a plea that the convicts be handcuffed. This plea was backed by the CBI, the prosecuting agency in the case.
However, the court declined the plea, saying "high security" during the transit and other related activities would suffice.
"If you are apprehending some untoward incident, then provide high security by deploying additional police forces. There is no need of bringing them here in handcuffs," Special CBI judge J P S Malik said.

The Tis Hazari lock-up in-charge in his application said that there is apprehension that the convicts may harm each other after their conviction in the 2009 fake encounter of a 22-year-old Ranbir Singh, a Ghaziabad resident who did his MBA from Meerut.
The official also claimed that while the convicts were been transported today, he heard that they were blaming each other for the outcome of the case.

However, the police's plea was opposed by the convicts counsel, who said why he (Tis Hazari lock-up in-charge) is moving such an application.
"Tihar jail Superintendent should have moved such type of application," the counsel said and asked why the convicts should be handcuffed with their hands behind.

"They are not hardcore criminals. If this arrangement is to be done, then it should be done for other under trials also," the counsel said.
The court had yesterday convicted 18 Uttarakhand Police personnel, seven of them for murder and others for various offences including criminal conspiracy and kidnapping in a fake encounter case in which an MBA student was shot dead in 2009. One of the convicts was allowed to walk free as he has already undergone the sentence for lesser crime.