Gunshot fired at Delhi’s Rohini court; no casualty reported

Panic gripped Delhi’s Rohini court complex on Friday morning after a bullet was fired from a Nagaland Police personnel’s service weapon during a fight between clients of two advocates, PTI reported. There were no casualties in the incident, the police said.

News agency PTI quoted the police saying that the bullet was fired from a Nagaland Police personnel’s service weapon during a fight between clients of two advocates.

A senior police officer said there was a fight between the clients of two advocates. A Nagaland Police personnel, who was on security duty, was trying to control the situation when a bullet was fired from his service weapon.

However, according to news agency ANI, the scuffle took place between two advocates and a public person at Gate No 8 of the court at around 9:40 am. It was when a NAP constable standing nearby intervened in the skirmish that a shot was fired on the ground. “Two persons injured due to concrete projectiles as a result of fire,” Delhi Police said.

On the other hand, news agency IANS quoted a lawyer saying that the skirmish took place between an advocate and a client, adding that the shot was fired was fired by the NAP officer deployed there. “An argument ensued between a lawyer and a security guard outside the gate of the Rohini Court. Things escalated and 2-3 more lawyers joined them. The argument soon took a violent turn and the guard fired a shot,” he was quoted as saying.

This is the second shooting incident in the Rohini Court complex within a span of a year. Previously, a low-density explosion and shooting of gangster Jitendra Gogi, who was in Delhi Police custody inside the district court, by two armed men posing as lawyers had raised serious questions on the security arrangements in the district court.

In December last year, a DRDO scientist — Bharat Bhushan Kataria — was arrested for triggering a low-intensity bomb in the premises of Rohini court. Kataria wanted to kill his former neighbour Amit Vashisht, a lawyer with whom he was locked in “protracted legal battles” for nearly a decade, police said. The scientist planned the bombing with an improvised explosive device (IED) for nearly a month, they said.

The Delhi High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and was told by the Delhi Police that 85 door frame metal detectors and 125 hand-held detectors have been installed at and supplied to various district courts as part of measures to enhance the security there.

The police also told the court that the security of all district courts in the national capital has been taken over by a specialised unit of Delhi Police in wake of the shootout. It also suggested maximising the use of technology in proceedings, upgradation of security gadgets, and segregation of civil and criminal courts to strengthen the safety of the courts.