Chandigarh court junks police theory
Chandigarh, July 23
Terming the police theory strange, a local court has acquitted three persons, Sanjeev, Sajid and Sourav, all residents of Sector 25, Chandigarh, in a robbery case.
The case was registered on the complaint of a woman, a resident of Sohana, Mohali, on January 27, 2021. She told the police that she boarded an auto-rickshaw from the Kumbhra Chowk, Mohali, around 8:30 am to reach Sector 49, Chandigarh, on January 27, 2021. She sat on the rear seat of the auto-rickshaw. Two boys were already sitting in the three-wheeler. When the auto-rickshaw reached the rear side of Sector 51, Chandigarh, Burail Jail, one of the boys sitting on the rear seat threatened the woman with a knife and asked her to handover the belongings. The auto driver kept on driving the vehicle as per their directions. On noticing a police vehicle, she started raising the alarm, but the auto driver accelerated the vehicle.
One of the boys snatched her bag containing a purse having Rs 500 and important documents. They also took away her earrings.
When the police tried to intercept the auto-rickshaw, the driver abruptly tried to turn the vehicle. However, it turned turtle. The accused fled from the spot and entered the jungle area.
During investigation, the police arrested the accused. The police filed a chargesheet against the accused.
On finding prima facie cases against the accused, they were chargesheeted for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 397 and 34 of the IPC. The court framed the charges against the accused to which they pleaded not guilty. The prosecution examined as many as five witnesses.
Anil Sharma, counsel for the accused, said they were falsely implicated in the case. The complainant could not identify the accused, who snatched her earring and the purse. She gave a clean chit to the accused.
The public prosecutor argued that though the complainant resiled from her previous statement, during cross-examination she admitted the fact that she gave a statement to the police. After the arrest of the accused, she had even identified them.
After hearing the arguments, Jaibir Singh, Additional Sessions Judge, Chandigarh, said the court was of the considered opinion that the prosecution had miserably failed to bring home the guilt against any of the accused beyond every shadow of reasonable doubt. Accordingly, they were acquitted of the charge levelled against them by giving them the benefit of reasonable doubt.
