New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has denied bail to a man, arrested for allegedly helping an undertrial gangster to escape from a hospital here, on the ground that the conspiracy of helping the prisoner escape from the lawful judicial custody is of huge magnitude which could have serious effects on public safety and graver consequences on the society.

The high court said that an operation of this complexity, that is, to aid an undertrial of notorious credentials to escape lawful custody, has wide ramifications that may shake the confidence of the public in the police administration as well as the criminal justice system.

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Justice Subramonium Prasad said granting bail to the accused, at this juncture, has the potential to encourage "copycat criminal behaviour" and dismissed the plea of accused Bhupender Singh alias Bhuttan.

The court noted that in this case around 10-12 persons were involved in the successful escape of gangster Kuldeep alias Fajja and two minors were made accomplices and abettors to the act of escaping the undertrial as they created chaos by throwing chilly powder in the eyes of the police personnel who were accompanying him.

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According to the prosecution, Singh was the one who took the undertrial on his scooty from Jaipur Golden Hospital to Rohini to a safe house for providing refuge to him.

Fajja was encountered by the police after a high voltage gunfight. Singh was arrested on March 28.

The judge said the contention of Singh's counsel that the maximum punishment for the offences, he is charged with, is of no consequence as the gravity of the conspiracy to enable a dreaded gangster to escape from lawful custody has a greater bearing on this court while deciding this petition.

“The evidentiary value of the disclosure statement and whether the petitioner (Singh) can be identified in the CCTV footage will be decided during the course of the trial. This court needs to bear in mind that the act was meticulously planned and swiftly implemented.

“The conspiracy of helping Kuldeep alias Fajja escape from the lawful judicial custody is of huge magnitude which could have serious effects on public safety and graver consequences on society as a whole. To execute this conspiracy, it required skill, tact, and a high level of intricate planning and plotting,” the court said.

It added that tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses also cannot be ruled out.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)