After constable's death, Delhi cops want handcuffs on dreaded undertrials
According to sources, the police constable who died last week after being hit by three bullets in a shootout at the Karkardooma Court complex could have been saved if Chanu Pehelwan was handcuffed.
After the death of a Delhi Police constable in a recent shootout in a city court, the Delhi Police now wants all dreaded criminals to be handcuffed while they are taken to court. Moreover, after such criminals are arrested, the Delhi Police wants investigation officers to handcuffs to secure their custody. A letter has been issued by the police commissioner's office to all officers in this regard. The move comes in the wake of a firing in Karkardooma court last month in which a constable was killed and two others were injured. The IOs have been given the responsibility to inform the jail authorities and DCP battalion about the criminals' past conduct, use of violence, propensity to escape and the importance of undertrial prisoners to law and order so that a secured transportation of the undertrial inmates is made by the third battalion of Delhi Armed Police, which is entrusted with transportation of prisoners between prisons and courts.
"After a Delhi Police constable was martyred recently in an incident, it has been decided that cops will explore every possibility to use handcuffs while transporting dangerous criminals. Also, if the IO feels that handcuffs should be used as precautionary measure, they should be used after following the prescribed procedure. However, no official is allowed to misuse it," an official of the rank of joint commissioner told Mail Today. According to sources, the police constable who died last week after being hit by three bullets in a shootout at the Karkardooma Court complex could have been saved if Chanu Pehelwan was handcuffed.
The accused allegedly pulled the cop close to him to save himself while armed assailants fired at him. The Delhi Police has also clarified the standing orders prescribing the procedure to use handcuffs while escorting an undertrial inmate. "If it is found that an accused is of desperate and dangerous nature, and the police officer who arrests such person feels that handcuffing is essential, a detailed report shall be recorded specifying the reasons as to why handcuffing is essential in that particular case in the daily diary and then only should such person be handcuffed while being produced in the court," says the letter accessed by Mail Today.
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