Customer or ‘gangster': Ludhiana police's hasty FIR raises eyebrows
What was believed to be gangster Lakhu Baba entering the shop with a pistol, as per the complainant, turned out to be a regular customer, only looking for a pair of new shoes.
The Division Number 7 police had booked eight persons, including gangster Lakhbir Singh, alias Lakhu Baba, of Jalandhar and his associate Rishav Benipal, under stringent sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including abetment to murder, criminal conspiracy, criminal intimidation, rioting, and under the Arms Act.
The FIR was lodged on the complaint of shoe trader Gurvinder Singh Prinkle, who claimed that Lakhu Baba entered his shop in his absence and threatened his staff with a pistol.
Prinkle claimed that Lakhu Baba was acting at the behest of gangster Rishav Benipal, who had opened fire at him at his shop in September 2024. Prinkle also submitted a CCTV footage of the 'accused' and shared it online.
Eventually encountering the video online, the man in the video, Sachin of Bhattian Colony, a Ludhiana-based salesman, was shocked to realise the allegations against him.
Releasing a video, he clarified that he was merely visiting the shop to enquire about shoe prices and had no connection with any gangsters. 'I earn only ₹500 a day working at a shop. I went there to check prices, found them costly and left. Later, I was shocked to learn that the police had booked me in a conspiracy-to-murder case based on the CCTV footage. My children have started doubting me after watching the video. This humiliation is forcing me to think of ending my life,' Sachin said in his video.
The incident has raised serious questions about the credibility of the investigation process adopted by the police before lodging the case, simply based on CCTV visuals without cross-checking identities. The case is now under review.
When contacted, ADCP (City 4) Mandeep Singh said, 'We will reinvestigate the matter and cancel the FIR if it turns out to be a case of mistaken identity.'
The complainant, Prinkle, himself was also arrested on Tuesday for using 'derogatory' remarks on social against an advocate and his kin.
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