32-year-old criminal smokes and drinks during hearing, held

NEW DELHI: A 32-year-old history-sheeter, Mohammad Imran-who disrupted virtual hearings of the Tis Hazari Court by appearing on screen in his undergarments while smoking and drinking-has been arrested from Old Mustafabad by North District police. A case was registered after a complaint was filed by a court staff member (ahlmad) of Tis Hazari courts, who reported that on Sept 16 and 17, a man repeatedly joined court hearings via videoconference under the false name Akib Akhlak. The man was seen smoking, drinking and refused to leave the session, despite several warnings from the court officials. Deputy commissioner of police (North) Raja Banthia said that police conducted a technical investigation, including the analysis of IP addresses and call detail records. However, the accused had used fake email accounts and frequently changed his location, making the search more difficult. “Eventually, with the help of manual checks and local intelligence, we tracked him down to Chaman Park in Old Mustafabad,” DCP Banthia said. Imran is a history-sheeter with more than 50 previous cases of robbery, snatching and illegal possession of weapons registered against him across various police stations in Delhi. He is currently on trial for multiple charges. During questioning, Imran admitted to joining the court’s video sessions on the said dates. According to police, he told them that someone outside the court had introduced him to the video conferencing app and had shared the court’s meeting ID with him. “Out of curiosity,” he said, he began joining the virtual hearings regularly. The devices he used to commit the offence have been seized.Police revealed that Imran was previously employed as a mechanic, but turned to crime due to his addiction to drugs and alcohol. To fund his habits and earn quick money, he began committing robberies. Though he was released from jail in Sept 2021, he soon returned to his old ways, officials said.