7 acquitted under UAPA, but four of them held guilty under Arms Act

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 27

Accused of running a terror module with links in Canada and Pakistan in 2017, Maan Singh Nihang and three others — Sher Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Simranjit have been convicted under the Arms Act by an Amritsar court. These four, along with other accused in the case, were, however, acquitted of charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Foreigners Act.

Advocate Navjit Singh Turna, legal counsel for the defence, said the court of Additional Sessions Judge Sarbjit Singh Dhaliwal held Maan Singh Nihang, Sher Singh, Simranjit and Gurpreet Singh guilty under the Arms Act.

However, these four, along with Balwinder Singh, Balkar Singh and Satinder Rawat, were acquitted of charges under the UAPA and the Foreigners Act. Balwinder Singh, Balkar Singh and Satinder Rawat are already out on bail while the remaining four are lodged at different jails in the state.

As per the FIR lodged at the Ramdas police station on May 21, 2017, Maan Singh Nihang, a resident of Samrai village, near Shri Hargobindpur (Gurdaspur), and Sher Singh, a resident of Kartarpur (Jalandhar), were nabbed by the BSF and huge quantities of arms and ammunition were recovered from them.

It was alleged that the two had links with terrorists in Canada and Pakistan and were trying to recover an illegal consignment of weapons smuggled from Pakistan when they were arrested. Later, during the investigations, five more names surfaced. The accused were claimed to be in contact with Gurjivan Singh, an alleged hardliner based in Canada who had arranged the weapons from Pakistan.