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Ravi Kapoor, key accused in murder case of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, caused a stir in a Delhi court by taking out a knife from his pocket and charged that the policemen gave it to him to attack undertrials in Tihar jail. The court asked the jail superintendent for an explanation on Kapoor's charge.
"The Tihar jail superintendent (high risk cell) is hereby directed to file an explanation to the allegations of the accused by June 4 before the court," Metropolitan Magistrate Veena Rani said. The accused took the judge, lawyers and others in the court by surprise by taking out a knife from his pocket saying it was provided to him to attack other undertrials in the lock-up at Patiala House courts complex. Taking a note of the claim, the court ordered seizure of the knife and asked the escorting policemen and the lock-up in charge to file a written response during the day.
The replies of the policemen and the lock-up in charge were taken on the record for consideration by the magistrate who was hearing the matter in the absence of the regular judge. The content of the replies was, however, not known. It would by considered on June 4, the next date of hearing, by the judge who is conducting the trial in the case. Kapoor, facing prosecution in several criminal cases including the murder cases of Vishwanathan and IT executive Jigisha Ghosh, was produced in the court in connection with a matter lodged for his failed attempt to flee from the custody from a hospital.
The court, meanwhile, directed the Tihar jail superintendent to ensure that the accused is not harassed and assaulted inside the prison. A sessions court had earlier framed charges against five persons, including Kapoor, for their alleged roles in the murder of Vishwanathan who was a scribe of a news channel. The father of the victim had recently testified as the first prosecution witness in the case. Kapoor is also charged under stringent MCOCA for running an organised crime syndicate in the national capital.