Four youths, who robbed a photographer of his belongings including camera, cell phone and cash at knife point, have been awarded varying jail terms of seven to five years by a Delhi court which expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the city.
The court observed that in the recent past, Delhi has been experiencing a spurt in incidents of snatching, robbery, dacoity, murder and other kinds of crime.
Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau convicted and sentenced Krishnamurthy (27) to seven years rigorous jail and Sumit (20), Mohd. Shankar (32), and Amit Gujjar (21), to five years imprisonment.
While Krishnamurthy was held guilty for the offence of robbery with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt, the other three were convicted for robbery.
The court imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Krishnamurthy and Rs 5,000 each on Sumit, Shankar and Amit.
"The deteriorating law and order problem of the city is a matter of serious concern and immediate steps are required to be taken at all levels for ensuring security and safety of the citizens. Instances of young persons getting involved in criminal activities of robbing innocent persons by putting them under threat of death, are also on rise.
"Criminals are unhesitatingly and indiscriminately using dangerous firearms on helpless victims who may or not offer any resistance thereby spreading terror in the society and adversely affecting social order and the faith of people in the system," the judge said.
According to police, the accused persons in furtherance of their common intention had robbed Sandeep Sehgal of his camera, its lens, batteries, memory cards, flash, wallet containing Rs 2,000, mobile phone and some documents. During the crime, Krishnamurthy had used a knife also.
Two other persons were also accused in the case but they had compounded the offence with complainant Sehgal.
The incident took place when Sehgal, a professional photographer, and his assistant Sharvan Kumar were returning from a farm house in Gurgaon in his car on November 18, 2010 late night after attending a marriage function.
