Panchkula, October 10
Punjabi singer Gursewak Mann, accused of taking photographs of Kangra-girl Neha Thakur at North Park, was today granted bail by a local court following his surrender at the CIA staff office in Sector 26 this morning.

After he surrendered at 10 a.m. before the CIA staff in the presence of his advocate and friends, Gursewak Mann, police sources said, admitted during his interrogation that his NRI friend, China-born Tony Temps, had clicked Neha’s photographs inside the ladies washroom while she was washing her face.

In the afternoon, he was produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr AD Gaur, where he was first remanded to judicial custody and later granted bail. However, long before his arrival, the court complex was changed into a fortress where policemen laid siege. While the members of the press, print and electronic, grew by the minute, curious onlookers too joined the melee.

Finally, at about 3 pm, a “cavalcade” of five cars made its entry into the court complex. Dressed in a sweatshirt, trackpants and a baseball cap, Gursewak got out of a Sumo, face hidden in his arms, and was immediately surrounded by lathi-wielding cops who tried to keep the press at bay. Incidentally, the police made all attempts to keep the media out of the courtroom till the proceedings were on till a few of them forced their way through the chain of policemen.

Inside the courtroom, Gursewak’s lawyer, Mr Manoj Kumar, urged the judge to grant bail to the accused, maintaining that Section 354 of the IPC was bailable. The judge, after hearing out the lawyer, said: “Your only argument is whether the Section is bailable or not.”

After sorting out the issue, he remanded Gursewak to judicial custody. He also issued a notice on Gursewak’s bail application for tomorrow. As the police and the singer prepared to leave, the police again formed a chain leading to the door of the car in which the singer was to go. However, as soon as he stepped out, everybody from the public to the media literally pouncing on him. While the public was just curious for his glimpse, the media wanted to extract a statement. Gursewak, finally, broke his silence at the court complex and obliged by saying,” I swear I have not done anything.” After this the police took charge and managed to get him into the waiting car which took him out of the complex.

Later, however, his lawyer went back to court, appearing before the judge with a clarification that Section 354 of the IPC was bailable. “There was a confusion on whether Section 354 is bailable or not. I clarified that the offence is bailable in Haryana and that it was non-bailable in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Punjab and Haryana had still not adopted the amendment in the CrPC which made it a non-bailable offence,” Mr Manoj Kumar said. After hearing the arguments, the judge granted bail after the lawyers furnished a bail bond of Rs 20,000.

Meanwhile, the CIA staff led by Inspector Surjit Singh, has issued a “lookout circular” to all immigration check posts for Gursewak’s friend, Tony Temps, who is still absconding. Sources said that he is suspected to be in Delhi and is likely to be arrested shortly. He also possesses the camera with which the girl’s picture was clicked.

It may be recalled that Gursewak and his friend had been accused of clicking pictures of a girl, Neha Thakur, in the washroom and manhandling her when she demanded that the two delete her photographs clicked by them on October 6. Following a complaint, they were booked under Sections 294 and 254 of the IPC for taking pictures of the complainant on his mobile and assaulting her with an intent to outrage her modesty.