‘No coherence': Court clean chit to 2 held for firing at Noida cops 15 years ago

Time of India

4 days ago

Noida: The additional sessions court gave a clean chit to two persons arrested 15 years ago on charges of attempt to murder and possession of illegal firearms for firing at a police team.
The court observed that the statements of the police unit from Surajpur, which had intercepted the two men during a vehicle-checking drive in 2010 and arrested them for firing on the police team, were mutually contradictory. It noted the prosecution failed to convince the court about the recovery of arms and the firing on the police party.
The two men, Satyendra Kumar Yadav and Vinod Singh, had contended that they were falsely implicated by police in a case of attempted murder under Indian Penal Code Section 307 filed on Nov 10, 2010, at Surajpur police station at the behest of Punjab Fibre Company, a private firm.
In its chargesheet, police said during a vehicle-checking drive at the temple roundabout, they were tipped off about two criminals coming in that direction in a white Maruti with some stolen goods from the private company. When the police team flagged the two to stop, the driver of the car opened fire on the police team and attempted to flee.
"They fired at the police with the intent to kill. If their actions resulted in the death of any police personnel, they would have been guilty of murder.
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Satyendra was found with a 315-bore pistol and a cartridge, and Vinod with a knife," the FIR stated.
During the trial, the court observed that there was no coherence in the statements of Sub-Inspector Shiv Prakash Singh and other constables in the team. "Constable Lokendra Pal Singh stated that no attempt was made by the police to stop the car, whereas Sub Inspector Shiv Prakash Singh said that they used a torchlight to stop the car, upon which the accused fired on the police," the court noted in the judgment.
It also found the theory of firing on the police party doubtful. "No injury to any police personnel or any other person is shown in the incident, nor is it stated which member of the police party was shot at by the accused. There is no mention of any damage caused to any person or vehicle by the alleged firing, nor is there any mention of the recovery of any cartridge shell after the alleged firing. It is highly unnatural that despite the accused firing with intent to kill and being armed, the police force did not fire in defence," the judgment noted.
The court also questioned the prosecution for not obtaining a forensic report for the recovered pistol and knife and pointed out that no ballistic expert report is available on record, which would indicate whether the recovered alleged 315-bore pistol was actually capable of firing or not.
Based on the observations, the court said the prosecution failed to establish beyond doubt the theory of firing on police with the intent of killing and the recovery of weapons, and accordingly acquitted the duo of the charges under the Arms Act and ordered their release after depositing two sureties of Rs 50,000 each within seven days.