New Delhi: Delhi police on Wednesday told a court
here that it would ensure security of inter-state gangster
Munna Bajrangi who apprehended threat to his life.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja disposed of
an application of Bajrangi, at present in the custody of Delhi
police Special Cell in a MCOCA case, seeking tighter security
after his counsel did not press for it and the police assured
him of the protection.
During the arguments on the application, Bajrangi's
counsel Chirag Jamwal said the accused feared for his life as
he had earlier been administered with a poisonous injection in
the custody in 1998 for which an FIR was also registered with
Subzi Mandi police station here.
He sought protection to the accused at the time of his
production before the court and return to the jail.
Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar, on the other hand, said
the police were duty-bound to provide security to everyone and
there was, therefore, no need to issue any specific
direction in this regard.
"There is no provision in the Criminal Procedure Code to
provide security to the accused under the police custody,"
Kumar said adding Bajrangi was produced in the court in
bullet-proof vehicle.
He also told the court that the FIR relating to the
incident of poison injection had already stood cancelled.
Bajrangi, whose real name is Prem Prakash Singh, was
arrested from Mumbai by a joint team of the Delhi Police and
Uttar Pradesh Police on October 29. The police invoked charges
against him under stringent MCOCA for allegedly running a
crime syndicate.
Bajrangi, who hails from Jaunpur district in Uttar
Pradesh, and his associate Mahendra Ayare, were arrested from
Mumbai for allegedly making extortion calls to a Delhi
businessman. Ayare is at present in the judicial custody.
Bajrangi's two aides Iftikar and Miraj Hussain, who were
also arrested later from Mumbai and Varanasi respectively,
were sent to police custody till November 14 by the court.
According to the police, Bajrangi is allegedly involved
in more than 10 murder cases across the country, including
that of BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh Krishnanand Rai in 2005.
The police also got issued a production warrant against
Mukhtar Ansari, an independent MLA from Uttar Pradesh, who is
now lodged in Ghazipur jail for being involved in the murder
of a BJP MLA, for November 16.
Ansari is wanted in the MCOCA case for being associated
with Bajrangi to run an organised crime syndicate.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 22:19