PO for over two decades, Bathinda man acquitted

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 3

Arrested last year on January 14, 25 years after he was declared a proclaimed offender by a Patiala court, Sandeep Singh, alias Bhau, finally walks a free man today.

Having over 100 acres of agricultural land at Multanian village in Bathinda district, he was arrested under various Sections, including TADA, in 2017. The court of Additional Session Judge DP Singla today acquitted Bhau, who was booked on March 29, 1990, under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC and Section 5 of TADA at Sadar police station, Patiala.

The police failed to prove its challan and the loopholes in their theories in this 28-year-old case that resulted in the prime accused getting acquitted. The police had claimed in their challan that Bhau had fired on a police party at a naka when they signaled him to stop, but failed to prove the challan contents in the court.

“When asked to stop, instead the accused left his scooter and fled into the nearby fields and fired three rounds at the police party, injuring one of them. He was arrested after police party fired in self-defense and Bhau surrendered. The police had mentioned that the accused had confessed that he was involved in rioting, murder and robberies,” read the police challan. The challan further mentioned that the accused was wanted in nine criminal cases. The police said they had recovered a .30 bore made in Paksitan pistol from him.

However, the defense counsels claimed that the police could not produce enough witnesses or documents to corroborate their claims, nor could the police prove that the accused fired at the police party following which an attempt to murder charge was slapped on him. “The police even failed to take sanction from a DSP-rank officer even as it proceeded under Sections pertaining to TADA, which mentioned that the sanction of a DSP-rank officer was a must. It only mentioned an inspector-ranked officer as the investigation officer in the case,” they said, adding that there were some other loopholes as well in the challan.

The police said Bhau was booked after he attacked a police party and left a policeman injured in an encounter. He was declared a PO in 1992. After his arrest in March 1990, he was lodged in the high-security Nabha jail and later got out on bail.