Undertrial prisoner gets one year in jail for assaulting cops in court corridor

Mumbai, Dec 13 (PTI) A court here has sentenced an undertrial prisoner to one year's imprisonment for assaulting policemen who were escorting him in 2015.

Additional Sessions Judge M R A Shaikh on Friday convicted Tabrej Sayyad under IPC sections 353 (assault to deter public servant from discharging duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to public servant), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The court found the statements of police personnel who were part of the escort team "coherent, consistent, and free from material contradictions".

"The narration of events reflects the natural conduct expected from police personnel escorting an undertrial accused," it added.

As per the prosecution, the incident took place on October 7, 2015, when Sayyad, lodged in Arthur Road jail here, was taken to the sessions court for a hearing.

He demanded to meet his relatives present in the court corridor, but the escorting team refused permission. Sayyad abused them and attempted to charge into the crowd.

When restrained, he slapped a police constable, the prosecution said.

A police officer ordered him to be moved to the court lock-up. The accused punched him in the chest and stomach.

The prosecution further claimed that in a bid to scare the officers, the accused banged his own head against an iron gate two to three times and threatened that he would tell the judge that the police had broken his head.

A separate case was registered against him over the incident. During the trial, Sayyad claimed that the escort team had assaulted him in the prison van.

However, the court rejected this argument.

It is the duty of an escort team to safeguard the accused while he is in their custody, hence "it is highly improbable that the escort team would assault the accused and then file a false report against him to protect themselves," the court held.

The prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, it concluded. PTI AVI KRK