Man acquitted in 19-year-old bomb blast case

Patiala, December 10

A man was acquitted in a 19-year-old case of bomb blast at Khwajpur village between Rajpura and Shambhu here. Rattandeep Singh was acquitted by the court of Additional Sessions Judge, Patiala, Dharminder Pal Singla. He is known to be the chief of Khalistan Commando Force (Panjwar).

Advocate Amanpreet Singh Dhindsa, counsel of Rattandeep Singh, said he was accused in the case after a blast occurred at a railway line in Khwajpur village on May 27, 1999. A case was then registered by the GRP, Patiala, under Sections 4 and 5 of the Explosives Act, Section 150 of Railways Act and 120-B (party to a criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

Later, Ratandeep was named in the case and arrested in 2015 along with four other accused. Advocate Amanpreet said the other four accused in the case had been acquitted. He said Rattandeep too was acquitted as none of the allegations against him could be proven to be true. — TNS