Chandigarh, Oct 16: A Chandigarh sessions court cleared nine Dera Sacha Sauda supporters of charges stemming from a violent confrontation and arson incident in Moga that took place fifteen years ago.
The verdict, pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge Arvind Kumar, concludes a complex judicial trial moved to Chandigarh by Supreme Court order. The prosecution’s case initially began with an unidentified police complaint before subsequent arrests were made starting in June 2018 based on information linked to Dera committee member Mahendra Pal Bittu.
Throughout the multi-year litigation, two co-accused individuals died in separate violent incidents: Bittu was murdered within Nabha jail, and Pradeep Singh was killed in open daylight at a retail shop.
The defense team—consisting of lawyers Amar D. Kamra, Kewal Singh Brar, and Harish Chhabra—successfully established the lack of sustainable evidence against the remaining defendants, leading to the complete acquittal of Sukhjinder Singh, Shakti Singh, Randeep Singh, Baljit Singh, Nishan Singh, Ranjit Singh, Narinder Sharma, Sandeep Singh, and Pirthi Singh.
