Seven walk free in PU firing case

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25

The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge RK Sharma on Wednesday acquitted seven persons in a case pertaining to firing on the Panjab University campus here in 2016.

The prosecution could not prove the charges against the accused after the complainant turned hostile in the court. However, the main accused in the case is a proclaimed offender. Thus, trial is pending against him. The acquitted persons are Resham Singh Godara, Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, Amrik Singh, alias Vicky, Mander Singh, alias Kabal Singh, Randeep Singh Khrode, Satwinder Singh, alias Naval, and Susham Nonia. They were acquitted of offences under Sections 307, 427, 147, 148 and 149 of the IPC.

The main accused in the case is Harvinder Singh, alias Rinda, a notorious gangster, who is wanted in multiple cases, including the murder of a sarpanch Satnam Singh in Sector 38 in April, 2017.

However, the witnesses, including Manpreet Aulakh and Jashandeep, turned hostile and failed to identify the accused in the court. Defence counsel Amarjeet Singh said the police could not recover any weapon from which the bullets were allegedly shot. The police had recovered bullet shells from the spot, but the CFSL expert told the court that they could not ascertain from which weapon the bullets were shot.

SOI leader Manpreet Aulakh was shot at on April 8, 2016, after an altercation with PUSU supporters during a fashion show. One of the accused had fired eight gunshots before fleeing. An argument had started over catcalls inside the law auditorium during a fashion show that led to the incident.