HC directs police to address ex-DUSU prez's plea for protection

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the police to expedite the request for protection made by former president of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) Ronak Khatri, who claims having received a threat from the infamous Rohit Godara gang.

In a plea before the court, Khatri said he had received threat messages from a Ukraine-registered phone number and the sender of the messages, who claimed to be an infamous gangster, demanded Rs 5 crore and threatened to kill him if the amount was not paid.

Justice Ravinder Dudeja said it was the duty of the State to protect the life of all its citizens and that the court was expected to further the constitutional protection of citizens.

“Since the petitioner perceives a threat to his life, the DCP, Outer North, as well as the DCP, Special Cell, are directed to expedite the request made by the petitioner for police protection,” the court said.

It added that the beat constable and the station house officer concerned should be counselled to immediately attend to any call made by Khatri. The court further asked the beat constable to regularly visit the petitioner for the next two weeks to ensure his well-being.

During the hearing, Delhi Police’s standing counsel Sanjay Lao told the court that Khatri’s application for security had been forwarded to the DCP (Special Cell), who would assess the threat perception and take a call.

Khatri, represented in the court by advocates Shaurya Vikram and Obhirup Ghosh, claimed that the threat messages were sent by a person associated with the Rohit Godara gang, which is allegedly involved in multiple criminal cases.

According to Khatri’s plea, despite the serious threat to his life, only limited protection was provided to him on September 29, which was not static in nature and did not include continuous deployment of police at his residence.

The protection was withdrawn the next day and the petitioner was informed that a threat assessment would be conducted by the cops.

Since then, he has repeatedly approached the police, seeking reinstatement of the protection for himself and his family. However, despite several representations, no response has been received, the plea says.

Khatri was the president of the DUSU last year.