AROMA MURDER

Charges framed against eight accused

Chandigarh, August 17
A local court today framed charges of culpable homicide against eight accused involved in the murder of a youth at Aroma lights in January this year. Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Preeti Sahni framed charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the IPC against all the accused.

While the UT police had initially registered a case of murder following the incident, it had dropped the charges of murder and converted the charges to culpable homicide in the chargesheet filed in the case in April.

The court framed charges under Section 304 IPC against Sukhjit Singh Sooch, a Mohali resident, Harsimranjeet Singh (28), a resident of Sector 44, Chandan Singh (24), Sandeep Kumar (27), Gautam Singh (23), all residents of Burail, Anand Singh (27) and Mahavir Singh (25), both residents of Sector 41, and Prashant Kumar Dabral (31), a resident of Sector 49.

The incident had occurred past midnight when 28-year-old Harminder Singh was killed following a scuffle outside the Aroma lights in Sector 22. The victim, an MBA student, had recently returned from Ireland and had gone to Aroma when he got into a scuffle with a group of youths. He was murdered in a spur of a moment and the attack was not pre-planned, the police had stated.

During the course of arguments of framing of charges, it was argued that the accused came out of the coffee shop while they were having ice-cream. The group then got into a scuffle with the youth and following verbal arguments, they beat Harminder up and stabbed him to death. The assaulting youths had fled leaving behind their Scorpio's number.

The case is now listed for next hearing in September when the trial will begin.

Balkrishan released from jail

 

Dehradun, August 17
Balkrishan, close aide of yoga guru Ramdev, was released from the Sadhowala jail in Dehradun this evening after he was granted bail by the Nainital High Court yesterday. A single Bench of Justice Tarun Aggarwal granted bail to him. He also ordered Balkrishan to furnish two personal sureties of Rs 10 lakh and directed him to appear in person in lower court for further hearing.

Balkrishan was arrested by the CBI for forgery and the violation of the Indian Passport Act. He appealed to the high court for bail after his bail plea was turned down twice by lower courts. A Special CBI court rejected his bail plea on July 20, the day he was arrested from Haridwar and by the Dehradun District Courts on July 31.

After coming out of the jail, Balkrishan said the UPA government would not be able to quell discontent growing against black money stashed in banks in foreign countries. He added he along with Ramdev would continue to wage a fight against corruption and black money.

Balkrishan said the UPA government had implicated him in a false case to divert attention from its scams and it would not be able to prove anything against him.

Ramdev said his fast against black money held in New Delhi was a runaway success. He added trust shown by the public in him had encouraged him to intensify his agitation. The convoy of Ramdev and Balkrishan passed through many parts of the city, including Clock Tower and Rajpur Road, where their supporters raised slogans in their favour. They also showered flowers on the duo.