126 dera followers acquitted in Panchkula riot case, 124 were women
In a major setback for Panchkula Police, a local court on Tuesday acquitted 126 persons, including 124 women, in a 2017 case linked to the violence that erupted following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case.
Recent acquittals
– 19 acquitted in violence near Sector 8 red light chowk
– 29 acquitted in violence at HAFED Chowk, Sector 2 (April 9)
– 37 acquitted in arson outside Nik Bakers and HARTRON office, Sector 2 & 5 (March 24)
– 41 acquitted for rioting in Sector 19 (February 10)
The acquittals come nearly seven years after the incident, which was part of a series of riots that left over 40 people dead and led to the registration of 152 cases across Panchkula.
According to the prosecution, on August 26, 2017, SHO of Sector 5 police station, Inspector Karambir Singh, along with his team, received a tip-off that women dera followers involved in stone pelting and arson a day earlier were regrouping at Yavnika Park. Police claimed they arrested 103 women on the spot, and recovered stones lying nearby, which were seized as evidence. More arrests followed during the investigation.
Charges were framed on September 4, 2018, for rioting with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly, and cheating by personation.
However, during the trial, Inspector Karambir Singh admitted during cross-examination that he could not identify the accused due to the passage of time. All 16 prosecution witnesses were police officials, but none could establish the presence or involvement of the accused in the violence that took place on August 25, 2017, after the CBI court pronounced its verdict against the dera chief.
Delivering the judgment, Chief Judicial Magistrate Ajay Kumar said, “None of the witnesses deposed anything about the involvement of present accused persons in the incident which took place on August 25, 2017… None of the witnesses identified the accused persons as those who pelted stones or committed arson.”
The court further held that the confessional statements recorded in police custody and demarcation memos were inadmissible due to the bar under Sections 25 and 26 of the Indian Evidence Act.
On the matter of stone recovery, the judge noted: “It appears that on August 26, 2017, approximately 103 accused persons were arrested and it is not clarifiable from which of the 100 women accused persons, those 100 stones were recovered… On this ground also, the recovery memo being vague is liable to be rejected.”
The case adds to a growing list of acquittals in dera-related riot cases, raising serious questions about the quality of police investigation and the use of vague or inadmissible evidence.
Haryana Tribune