M A I N   N E W S

Two acquitted in Manchanda murder case
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 20
A city court on Tuesday acquitted two men accused of gunning down the president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) in 1984, after the prosecution failed to produce any evidence.

It was the Delhi Police’s case that the duo, Virsa Singh and Amarjit Singh Chawla, shot dead Manchanda near ITO in the Capital on March 28, 1984. Manchanda and four others were travelling in the former’s car. Additional Sessions Judge Dinesh Dayal set free the accused persons, holding that “there is really no evidence to connect a complete chain of circumstances pointing towards the guilt of the accused”.

According to the police, Manchanda was allegedly shot by two All-India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF) men. They alleged that Virsa and Amarjit fired at him from the point blank range.

The duo then fled the scene in a waiting car. Five bullets were later recovered from Manchanda’s body. The car allegedly used by the accused was later found abandoned at Shastri Bhavan.

Manchanda’s driver Mohan Singh, Delhi SGPC Vice President Jagdish Singh Lamba, Assistant Sub Inspector Pritam Singh and a security guard Gurcharan Singh were in his car at the time of the incident.

Lamba and Mohan were injured. Later, the accused were allegedly arrested during Operation Blue Star when the Army stormed the Golden Temple at Amritsar.

The Indira Gandhi Ministry had banned the AISSF on March 19, 1984. Manchanda reportedly welcomed the ban the next day. Angered by Manchanda’s stance, the accused had allegedly decided to eliminate him. The acquittal followed the failure of the prosecution to prove that the accused persons were members of the AISSF, or that they were arrested from Golden Temple Complex during Operation Blue Star. The court observed that the Arresting Officer was not examined. Furthermore, the military officer, who was examined in this connection, did not identify the accused.

The court also noted that there was no evidence to prove that the accused persons were in possession of the revolver recovered from the scene of crime.

No fingerprint expert was produced to show that the fingerprints of the accused persons matched with any fingerprints found in the car or on the weapon of offence, the court said. The prosecution also did not file any report to prove that the hair found in the abandoned car matched the hair of the accused persons, the court noted.

Regarding the letters allegedly written by Virsa Singh and recovered by the police, the court said that “the manner in which the writings were proved leaves much to be desired”. “The circumstance of letters having been written by Virsa Singh does not conclusively prove that he committed the murder”, the court said. It added that the evidence against Amarjit was “all the more brittle”.

AMRITSAR: Amarjit Singh Chawla, a member of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) and Virsa Singh Valtoha, a former member of Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board, who were acquitted in the sensational Manchanda assassination case by the Delhi’s Special Court today said it took two decades to prove their innocence.

Talking to TNS on telephone, they said their acquittal would go a long way in sending positive good signals among the Sikhs about the fairness of judiciary. Valtoha said they had been fighting the legal battle since 1984 following killing of Manchanda in New Delhi. — PTI, TNS