To avoid Kanhaiya Kumar redux, cops on toes

NEW DELHI: Stung by criticism over its mishandling of the situations at the Patiala House courts in February, Delhi Police on Thursday made adequate security arrangements for CM Arvind Kejriwal and his party colleagues who arrived there in connection with a defamation case.

Armed policemen were deployed at the court complex and a multi-layer security ring was formed to protect Kejriwal and other AAP functionaries. Steps were taken to prevent entry of outsiders into the court premises. Earlier, Kejriwal had expressed concerns about a possible attack on him.

In February, a group of lawyers had allegedly manhandled JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar besides attacking journalists outside the Patiala House courts.

Union minister Arun Jaitley, who had filed the defamation suit against Kejriwal and other AAP members, also arrived at the court in the afternoon. More than 500 personnel from Delhi Police and CRPF stood guard and kept the supporters of BJP and AAP away from each other outside the court premises.

However, the situation became tense around 2pm when Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay and BJP MP Ramesh Bhiduri arrived at the gate number two. Following this, some BJP supporters shouted "Bharat mata ki jai". The AAP supporters, in turn, raised "Jaitley hatao desh bachao" slogan.

The cops swung into action and brought the situation under control. Upadhyay and Bidhuri were allowed to enter the court in order to calm the BJP protesters. More than 50 supporters from both the parties were detained by police.

The security arrangements were overseen by M K Meena, joint CP of the New Delhi range, DCP Jatin Narwal and additional DCP Kumar Gyanesh. "ACPs, SHOs and inspectors were also present outside the court to ensure a strict vigil. More than 200 supporters of the two parties had gathered at the spot. Steps were taken to prevent clashes between the two groups. Preventive detentions were made and all the detainees were released soon," said a senior police officer.

The supporters were detained well before Jaitley arrived at the court. He was escorted into the courtroom by his own security men amid sloganeering and protests by AAP supporters.

"A series of meetings were held with lawyers and mediapersons to ensure that no untoward incident occurred during the court proceedings. Different gates were assigned to the defendants and the complainant so that crowd management could be done easily. We recorded the entire incident and professional cameramen had been hired for this purpose. Special efforts were made to keep the protesters at bay," said Narwal.

Kejriwal, who arrived at the court around 2.15pm, was escorted through gate no. 1 by a team of armed security men who kept even his close associates at bay. Each and every individual entering the court complex was scanned thoroughly. Cops in civvies were present inside the court to thwart any untoward incident, said senior police officers.