French citizen, Chaura acquitted in 2010 terror case

CHAURA WAS WANTED BY THE PUNJAB POLICE IN NEARLY A DOZEN CASES

AMRITSAR: A local court has acquitted alleged Khalistani militants Pal Singh ‘France’, a French citizen, and Narain Singh Chaura in a terror-related case registered in 2010.

The two were booked under Sections 4 and 5 of the Explosives Act and Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act at the civil line police station here on May 8, 2010.

Their lawyer VP Singh Bhatia said on Thursday that the two were acquitted on Tuesday by the court of additional sessions judge SS Dhaliwal after hearing the arguments and found no evidence against them.

He said Pal Singh has been on bail since last year while Narain Singh is lodged in the Amritsar jail as he is accused in four other related cases — two in Amritsar and one in Tarn Taran and Ropar each. He said Pal Singh, who claims to be a human rights activist, is also facing more cases in Punjab.

While Chaura was arrested in February 28, 2013, from Jalalabad village in Tarn Taran and his alleged associates Sukhdev Singh and Gurinder Singh were arrested from Pandoori village of the district the same day.

The Punjab Police during the interrogation of Chaura and his associates had raided a hideout in Kurali village of Mohali district and claimed to have recovered arms and ammunition.

Another lawyer familiar with the development said Sukhdev and Gurinder were acquitted by an Amritsar court in 2016.

Chaura was wanted by the Punjab Police in nearly a dozen terror-related cases. He was allegedly associated with organisations such as the Akal Federation and the Khalistan Liberation Force.

The police had also placed a bounty of ₹10 lakh on his head.

The police had claimed that Chaura crossed over to Pakistan in 1984 and was instrumental in smuggling large consignments of weapons and explosives into Punjab during the initial phase of militancy.

While in Pakistan, he allegedly authored a book on guerrilla warfare and “seditious” literature. He was also accused in the sensational Burail (Chandigarh) jailbreak case.