Nawanshahr: 3 booked under UAPA in 2017 case acquitted

Tribune News Service

Deepkamal Kaur

Nawanshahr, February 27

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Karunesh Kumar here has acquitted three persons, who had been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Pojewal police in a seven-year-old case.

Accused of being part of Pak terror module

The three persons, Gurdial Singh of Garhshankar and Jagroop Singh and Satwinder Singh of Nawanshahr, had been arrested in June 2017 on the charges that they were part of a Pakistan-trained terror module having links with Kashmiri terrorists.

The three persons, Gurdial Singh of Garhshankar and Jagroop Singh and Satwinder Singh of Nawanshahr, had been arrested in June 2017 on the charges that they were part of a Pakistan-trained terror module having links with Kashmiri terrorists. The police had then claimed that they had links with banned organisation International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) run by Pak-based Lakhbir S Rode and Harmeet Singh PHD. But the prosecution failed to prove these charges for which they were booked under Sections 121, 121-A, 120-B of the IPC and Sections 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the UAPA.

Since two weapons, including a .32-bore pistol and .38-bore revolver, were also seized from them, Gurdial Singh and Jagroop Singh have been convicted under Section 25 of the Arms Act. The court sentenced the duo to one year of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 each. Since they had already undergone the period of imprisonment during inquiry, they had been ordered to be set free.

On the UAPA charges, the court order reads, “Not even an iota of evidence had come on record that the accused ever raised any funds from a foreign country for committing any terrorist activity in India. No transaction was received from abroad in their bank accounts. Even the magazines ‘Gurmukh Parkash’ and ‘Vangar’ seized from them were not prohibited by the Government of India. The witnesses also dmitted that the visit to Pakistan gurdwaras and other religious places was not illegal and it was not a crime. There is no evidence that they conspired to wage any war against India or states of India.” Therefore, the court acquitted all three of the charges of UAPA and criminal conspiracy.

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