The murder of dreaded gangster Jitender Gogi within a court room of Rohini District Court has sparked serious concerns around the lapse of security

In what seemed like a scene straight out of a bollywood movie, two attackers from a rival gang entered the court premises by breaching the security apparatus and gunned down the dreaded jailed gangster Jitender Gogi. The assailants waited for the police to present Jogi for a hearing in courtroom 207 and opened fire within the court premises. Both the assailants were killed in retaliatory fire by the police.

The assailants were identified as known associates of  the Tillu gang, which is being led by Sunil alias Tillu Tajpuria from the jail. Tillu has has been accused in over 22 cases of murder, extortion, dacoity, robbery, and assault on police. He is presently housed in the Tihar Jail, allegedly operating from there.

Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal said both the attackers are dead including undertrial prisoner Gogi, one of Delhi’s most wanted. “Swift action by the police team in launching a counter-fire on the two assailants, who were in lawyers’ attire, and attacked Gogi. Both the assailants are dead along with Gogi,” he said.

However, this incident poses a serious question of security in court, as this is not the first case of such an attack in Rohini district court. Advocate A P Singh who was present at the time of the incident said, “They were wearing black coats that’s why they were allowed to enter the court premise, why was the security check not done?”

“When you enter the metro and airport, they check you in and out” why not here Singh asks. This was not the first time such an incident happened in Rohini court, in April 2017 a notorious criminal Rajesh of Neeraj Bawana’s gang was shot dead outside Rohini court by his rival Mohit. 

In November 2017, another murder of an undertrial Vinod was orchestrated at Rohini Court. Police arrested four accused, including prime suspect, 19- year-old Abdul Khan of Neeraj Bawana’s gang and a juvenile, who as per reports came to take revenge.

Advocate Rajiv Agnihotri told PTI, “This (incident of firing) has happened for the fourth or fifth time at Rohini. So the situation has not improved so far.” 

Singh added, “In High Courts and the Supreme Court nobody can enter without a special card issued for lawyers. Why can’t it be done in district courts?” He further stated that Gogi was present in the witness box when he was killed. This, he believes, will set a bad precedent and will deter witnesses from coming to court.

“What about the security of common people coming to court? Their lives are not valuable?”  Singh also pointed towards what he perceived as an entitled attitude of lawyers in district courts, “If you are wearing a black coat that means you have a free pass from security, why? And if the police tighten security, they will call a strike.”

“Police should have power in security checks” when asked about other cases of attacks in court he said, “So far attacks were happening outside court, now this attack happened during the hearing, the Judge was there. It was a grave security concern.”

The Lawyers’ body has demanded an investigation  in the case and suspended work for tomorrow. President of Delhi Bar Association Sanjeev Nasiar termed the incident as unfortunate, “A senior level investigation is required to look into the incident. This raises a question on security. How could someone take a gun not just inside the premises but inside a courtroom,” he questioned.

 

Who was Jitender Gogi?

Jitender Maan alias Gogi was a dreaded gangster who absconded thrice from police custody. A reward of 6.5 lakh was on his head (four lakh was announced by Delhi police and 2.5 lakh by Haryana police) along with his accomplices.

Gogi fled from police custody from Bahadurgarh in July 2016, after that he was involved in several cases of decoity and murder, including the murder of singer and dancer Harshita Dahiya. He is also believed to have been responsible for the murders of members of the Tillu gang. Last year on 3rd March a special cell of Delhi police arrested him. Along with him, his notorious sharp shooter, Kuldeep Maan alias Fazza, Rohit alias Moe, and Kapil alias Gourav was also arrested.

Gogi was arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) by Delhi Police’s Special Cell, which provides special powers to the police to combat organised crimes. He was found to be operating even from behind bars. 

 

Friends turned foe

Tillu and Gogi were once friends, and their rivalry started in 2010 with the Delhi University elections in Swami Shraddhanand college. The gang war started from a college student union election and went on for decades resulting in dozens of deaths. When dreaded gangster Nitu Dabodia was killed in a police encounter, both Tillu and Gogi emerged as opposing centers of power within criminal circles. With the arrest of another dreaded gangster Niraj Bawana, the race of supremacy became even more pronounced — resulting in a gang war.

 

(With inputs from PTI)

(Cover: Security closed the entry gate to Rohini court after the shootout inside the premises on February 20, 2013 in New Delhi, India. Naveen an under trial in a murder case was shot twice in chest by the two members of rival gang PHOTO: Getty)