Moga court acquits UK national Johal, 7 others in UAPA case

Lodged in Delhi's Mandoli jail, Johal was arrested in 2017

- Vishal Joshi

BATHINDA: A Moga district court on Tuesday acquitted eight persons, including a British national, Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi Johal, in the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case by granting them 'benefit of the doubt.'

The court gave accused Johal, Taljeet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Dharaminder, Hardeep Singh, Anil Kumar, Jagtar Singh and Tarlok Singh a benefit of doubt for irregularities in the laid down procedures for prosecution in anti-terror law.

In his 97-page order, the additional sessions judge Harjeet Singh found the shoddy police probe and lack of sanction to prosecute under UAPA. "This court came to the conclusion that there is no valid sanction to prosecute the accused. Thus, all the accused are liable to be acquitted on this score alone under Sections 17,18,19,20 of UAPA," reads the order.

Arrested in 2017 A British citizen Johal and others were accused of being involved in targeted killings reported from April 2016 to October 2017, including the murder of RSS leader Brigadier Jagdish Gagneja (retd). Johal was arrested in November 2017 and has been in jail since then.