An unidentified thief entered the premises and broke open three locks last saturday

A month-and-a-half ago the city police had assured chief justice of the Bombay high court Swatanter Kumar to provide round-the-clock security on the district and sessions court premises.

But a recent incident where an unidentified thief entered the court premises and broke open three locks has revealed that the assurances have fallen flat.

The court authorities on Monday have written a letter to police commissioner Satyapal Singh reminding him about the unfulfilled promises, and demanding 24X7 security on the court premises.

Registrar of the Shivajinagar court Prakash Deshmukh has filed a complaint with the Shivajinagar police station, stating that unidentified miscreants entered the old and new buildings of the court on Saturday night and broke three locks of three different courtrooms, including that of judicial magistrates (first class) GG Itkalkar and Karuna Rajput.

Court officials said that they had checked the court records and the strong room, but found that nothing was stolen.

Police sub-inspector Sandeep Ghorpade of the Shivajinagar police station said the case is being investigated.

The Pune police had assured chief justice Swatanter Kumar on January 17, in the presence of other senior court officials, to post a police inspector, accompanied by four sub-inspectors and 20 police constables to provide round-the- clock security of the court premises.

Police commissioner Satyapal Singh, then principal district judge Ashok Cheema, joint commissioner of police Rajendra Sonawane and deputy commissioner of police (Zone I) Raghunath Khaire were present during the meeting with the chief justice.

The Shivajinagar court, spread over four acres, has only two security guards on night duty at present. Of them, only one is armed.

Sources said that the police had installed a metal detector on the court premises, which also is not working properly. "For the first few days, there were a few constables near the metal detector, but the security has become lax now," said a court official.

Prashant Aher/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication