Juveniles gun down policeman in Delhi court

New Delhi: A policeman was killed when four armed youths in the age group of 16-18 years fired at a member of a rival gang in a packed court here, police said. The target was injured.

Head Constable Ram Kumar received bullets in his head and chest and collapsed on the fifth floor of the Karkardooma courtroom when two of the four killers opened fire at Irfan alias Chhenu, their target.

Irfan, who was involved in 23 criminal cases in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh including those of murder, suffered a bullet wound in his leg while another bullet scraped his head. He was declared out of danger.

Panic gripped the court as the shots rang out, witnesses and police officers said.

Metropolitan Magistrate Sunil Gupta ducked for cover while several others in the room screamed in terror.

Irfan’s lawyer Shaqib Qureshi said he was writing something when he heard rapid sounds. “When I turned I was horrified to see bullets being fired,” he said.

But as the killers tried to get away, an unidentified lawyer and a policeman pounced on the two men, who had fired eight or nine rounds from pistols, and captured them.

The other two members of the killer gang who were waiting outside the courtroom tried to flee but were chased and overpowered.

Lawyers thrashed all four criminals before handing them over to police.

The arrested men were identified as Sahil, Govind, Sunny and Sunil. Three of them were residents of Dakshinpuri and one lived in Madangi — in south Delhi.

“The killer gang entered the court and opened fire when they saw Irfan,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range) Sanjay Beniwal said.

“Unfortunately, the policeman who was holding Irfan’s hands in the accused box was killed,” he said.