:dateline:Three days after seven Sikh men were acquitted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the local court today granted bail to two Sikh youngsters who were arrested under the same Act four months ago, as the Police failed to submit challan (official paperwork with evidence) against them in the court.
These youths are Gurmeet Singh and Vikram Singh. Both are residents of the holy city.
Claiming to have busted the Pakistan-backed terror module, the Punjab Police made this case a high profile one. Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta himself addressed a press conference in this regard declaring it as a big achievement of the Police. Both the Sikh youths were dubbed as �deadly terrorists�.
A German-made MP5 sub-machine gun, a 9-mm pistol with four magazines, and two mobile phones with a host of incriminatory conversations, messages, and photographs were shown to be seized from the duo. They were also booked under various sections of the Arms Act, besides the UAPA, which is termed as draconian law in India and misused to suppress dissent.
It is notable that the Police failed to produce challan in the court of Sessions Judge BS Sandhu who did not only dismiss the plea of the public prosecutor for the state, Rakesh Kumar, seeking more time to submit challan, but also granted bail plea to the youths.
�The Police have not submitted the challan and application of the prosecution and report of the learned public prosecutor for the state for extension of time beyond 90 days has already been dismissed today by this court. Therefore, the present bail application is allowed and the accused is ordered to be released on bail on his furnishing personal bonds�, reads of the court order.
Advocate Harsimrat Singh Randhawa appeared before the judge as counsel for the petitioners.
Non-submission of the challan suggests that the Police could not prove what it claimed about both youths when they were arrested. It was also claimed that they were preparing to carry out a series of terror attacks and targeted killings at the behest of their Pakistani mentors and handlers. Also, the mobile phones revealed suspicious transactions with Pakistan-based elements, including photographs, voice messages, as well as the coordinates of a particular geo-location, DGP Dinkar Gupta had told reporters on June 19, this year.
He made several other claims about both, but none could be established in the court.
The fate of this case appears same as that of other cases registered under UAPA. This Act fell flat on October 26, when seven Sikhs including Maan Singh and Sher Singh who were Sikh preachers in the area of Gurdaspur, were acquitted by Amritsar court.
