Jamshedpur: Unprecedented security arrangements were made at the Jamshedpur civil court premises under Sitaramdera police station area on Thursday after the killing of Upendra Singh, accused of several murder cases, yesterday.
Meanwhile, all district advocates observed a pen-down strike today following a decision taken to this effect by the Jamshedpur Bar Association to protest the shootout on the court campus and demand security for advocates.
The visitors were frisked by the security personnel deployed at the entrance gate. Metal detectors were used in scanning bags and vehicles of both men and women.
In view of the murder carried out under the very nose of the police, the administration turned the court into a virtual fortress with deployment of additional security personnel. The security forces are frisking the visitors.
While the policemen were busy in frisking the visitors and checking their belongings, deputy superintendent of police (headquarters-I) KN Mishra, under whose jurisdiction the Sitaramdera thana falls, inspected the court.
“We have beefed up the security arrangements after the murder. We will not allow any objectionable thing inside the civil court premises, which is a high security zone. Such security checking at the entrances will continue ,” said Mishra.
“This is the initial step for augmenting the court security which will be further increased after a meeting between the district administration and the district judge which is likely to be held soon. As the court premises come under the domain of judiciary, we cannot do anything without taking the court authority into confidence,” said an official.
Later in the afternoon, a high level meeting of police, judicial officials and functionaries of Jamshedpur Bar Association was held at the conference hall of the District and Sessions Judge, B B Mangalmurti.
Aimed at enhancing security in the Jamshedpur civil court, the meeting was attended among others, by the deputy commissioner (DC) East Singhbhum Amit Kumar, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Anoop T Mathew, superintendent of police (city) Prashant Anand, Dhalbhum sub-divisional officer (SDO), Suraj Kumar and Jamshedpur Bar Association (JBA) president R N Das along with other lawyers.
Concerned over the shooting incident at the Jamshedpur Bar Association building on the court premises, the judicial as well as the administrative officials brainstormed over Wednesday’s incident and sought suggestion from the Bar members about the latter’s demand for high tech security.
“We are concerned about the situation. We have demanded introduction of a high-tech security arrangement at the court premises. We have demanded recruitment of trained policemen on security duty besides installation of electronic gates at all the entrances and CCTV cameras at all the floors of the two Bar building and effective frisking of clients and their men at the gates. The DC has promised to fulfill all the demands, but within one month�s time,” said the JBA president.
Though there are CCTV cameras installed at all the four entrances of the three-storeyed Civil Court complex, but there is no such surveillance camera at the two bar buildings where over 2,000 practicing lawyers sit for providing legal assistance and consultation.
Initially, only a handful of policemen were present at the entrance of the court premises, but after an abortive bid on under-trial gangster Akhilesh Singh by two armed youths last year, the administration had deputed 45 policemen at the entrances and also introduced the frisking of the visitors, especially the suspicious ones.
Significantly, a section of lawyers demanded permanent security arrangement at the civil court premises. Lawyers said they should be given security so that they may work without worry.
