Duo Aquitted of Murder
AMRITSAR, PUNJAB (KP) - The Amritsar District and Session Judge has acquitted Harchand Singh and Navtej Singh ‘Guggu’ of the criminal charges related the murder case of notorious Police cat turned Nihang, Ajit Phoola.
Session Judge Gurbir Singh announced the acquittal within minutes after both Harchand Singh Marri-Kamboke, and Navtej Singh ‘Guggu’ of Batala made their appearance in the District courthouse.
On August 28th of 2008, Navtej Singh Gaggu Ajit Poohla had allegedly poured diesel fuel on Nihang Ajit Poohla while they were in custody in Amritsar Central Jail.
Reportedly, the duo obtained the fuel from a nearby generator that was connected to the prison Gurdwara. Around noon time on August 28th, the pair decided to approach Poohla in ward no. 9 and initiated a quarrel, resulting in the neo-Nihang being set on fire.
Poohla was immediately taken to the local Civil Hospital but then later transferred over to PGI Chandigarh, due to the seriousness of his burns. He was declared dead the next day.
The attacker were later identified as Navtej Singh of Batala and Harchand Singh of Marri-Kamboki, Amritsar. Six individuals were originally charged in the conspiracy, three of them had been exonerated earlier by the trial court.
Poohla: Ruthless Butcher in Garb of a Nihang
Ajit Poohla, who headed his own faction of Tarna Dal, and a high level undercover police officer, operated his cadre of black cats during the turbulent 1980s and 1990s, and was responsible for numerous heinous crimes against humanity including murder, rape, and torture under state patronage.
For the past two decades, Poohla was also involved in drug trafficking and illegal occupation of public and private lands. He had illegally seized several Gurdwaras in Punjab and used them as centers of criminal activity.
In 2005, he was ousted from the Gurdwaras and eventually jailed due to the efforts of Col. HS Sandhu, of the Majha Human Rights Front.
When the freedom movement was at its peak in the state, Poohla enjoyed a high security cover of 42 official gunmen armed with 77 sophisticated weapons. He was known to flaunt snapshots of him in the company of senior political party leaders, including a former chief minister, and senior IAS and IPS officers.
See related:
Neo-Nihang Poohla Burnt to Death. Justice served !
Images of Horror : Frankenstein of the Punjab Police (8/2008)
Partial list of FIRs against Ajit Poohla (8/2008)
Notorious Nang Ajit Poolha Back Behind Bars (4/2007)
Indian Court Drops Murder Charges against Poohla (11/2006)
