As per procedure, accused persons should be lodged in the lockup and presented in the court one after the other. They should then be taken back to the lockup, and later shifted to the jail van. The general procedure followed in the Noida courts, however, is the complete opposite: the accused are brought to the court, all together, and made to sit next to the lawyers. They are later shifted to the jail van directly after the hearing.

In Chhatrapal’s case, police officials say, the biggest “blunder” was to deploy only two constables to manage the accused persons.

Security lapses in this case are also not new. Officials posted at the courts said barring one or two cases, they have never seen police follow formal procedures. Here are a few recent cases of accused persons fleeing from custody of Noida Police:

January 4, 2008: Criminal Kulveer escapes from police custody

November 2006: Thief escapes from Kasna Police Station

December 2006: Deepak Jat, a car-lifter, escapes from police van carrying him back to Dasna Jail from court

January 2007: Criminal Sanjay Jat killed on way back from court

May 2007: Three pickpockets escape from Phase-II police station on way back from court