Court acquits guard of Babulnath temple

Mumbai: A metropolitan court has acquitted a 62-year-old security guard of Babulnath mandir, south Mumbai for charges of negligence of their duty. The court gave him the benefit of doubt as the cops presented only policemen as witnesses and no independent witness.

The accused was working as a security guard at Babulnath Mandir. Since the temple is on the hit list of terrorists, the local police, in 2016, sent a decoy devotee in the temple with an empty revolver.

The guard failed to check the person who passed through the metal detector and gained entry inside the temple, following which a case of negligence was registered against him. Another security guard, who was also on duty when the police decoy passed undetected with a firearm, is absconding. The prosecution case is that, since Babulnath Mandir is on the hit list of terrorists the superior police officers directed the Gamdevi police to send a dummy devotee with arms to check security measures.

On January 15, 2016 at around 11.30am sent a man called Satish Saket with an empty revolver, tucked at his waist, to the said temple as dummy devotee.

At the relevant time, Ramkrishna Kute and Maheshwari Singh were working as security supervisor and security guard respectively. Saket passed through the metal detector and gained entry inside the temple without any checking.

Following this, a FIR was registered against both of them under sections188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.