Court dismisses bail plea of Mohali resident

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 6

Saying that there is a plenty of evidence on the police file to connect the accused with the alleged bank robbery in Sector 61, Chandigarh, a local court has dismissed the bail application of a Mohali resident.

The police arrested accused Harjot Singh, a resident of Mohali, on February 10, 2021, two days after the alleged robbery in the bank. As per the prosecution, it was about noon on February 8, 2021, when a person aged between 30 and 32 years appeared at Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank in Sector 61, Chandigarh. He was armed with a pistol. He threatened the bank employees and managed to commit a robbery of Rs8,65,452 before escaping from the spot.

The FIR was originally lodged against an unknown person. Two days later, the police arrested the accused. He was identified by Amarjit Singh, cashier of the bank. A car used in the alleged crime by the applicant was also recovered. The police also recovered Rs8,48,952 looted from the bank. The counsel of the accused claimed that the applicant had been falsely implicated in the case. He said the FIR was lodged against an unknown person.

There is nothing in investigation proceedings to show as to how the accused was connected with the alleged occurrence. His identification was not conducted as per law. The applicant is behind bars since February 10, 2021. Nothing was recovered from him. Presentation and disposal of challan will take time.

The additional public prosecutor opposed the bail application in view of the nature and the gravity of the offence. He said the applicant was carrying a firearm. He was identified by the cashier of the bank where the applicant had committed the robbery.

After hearing the arguments, the court dismissed the bail application, saying there is a plenty of evidence on the police file to connect the accused with the involved occurrence. The contention regarding improper identification of the applicant as the accused would now be a matter of trial. The allegations against the applicant are serious.