A court in Mohali on Friday acquitted gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and three others due to a lack of evidence in a 2022 Arms Act case and handed down three years of imprisonment to one convict. Judicial Magistrate First Class Kirandeep Singh also imposed a fine of Rs 500 on convict Sonu, a resident of Sorgarhi village in Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh, stating: "In case of default in the payment, his sentence will be extended by one month." Appearing for Lawrence Bishnoi, advocate Karan Soufat said, “A case was registered under various provisions of the Arms Act at the Sohana police station in 2022 against Lawrence Bishnoi, Aseem, alias Hasham Baba, Deepak, Vikram Singh, alias Vicky, and Sonu. However, the prosecution failed to establish charges against Lawrence, Aseem, Deepak and Vikram, leading to their acquittal. Only Sonu has been convicted under Section 25 of the Arms Act.” The defence counsel said, “The investigating officer could not complete his testimony in the court, which rendered his partial statement inadmissible as evidence. Later, the prosecution examined SI Deepak Singh, one of the recovery witnesses, who confirmed that the weapon and cartridges were recovered from Sonu.” According to the case, Sonu was the first to be arrested, and based on his disclosure to the police, Deepak Pundir, alias Deepu, was nominated and arrested. Subsequently, during the interrogation of Deepak, Bikramjit Singh was also named and arrested. Lawrence Bishnoi, during his custodial interrogation, gave a disclosure statement naming Aseem, alias Hasham Baba. The court, however, held, “Disclosure statements made in the police custody cannot be treated as admissible evidence unless they lead to recoveries made in accordance with law.” On November 19, 2022, while patrolling near CGC College with his police team, ASI Gurpratap Singh received a tip-off around 4.30 pm that Sonu, a resident of Sorgarhi village in Meerut District of Uttar Pradesh — wanted in several robbery cases in Punjab, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh — was heading towards Landran. Acting on the information, police intercepted him near TDI City and recovered a bag containing four pistols of .32 bore, one pistol of .315 bore, 10 cartridges of .32 bore and five cartridges of .315 bore. Disposing of the case, Judicial Magistrate First Class Kirandeep Singh observed that “the prosecution succeeded in providing the offence only against Sonu under Section 25 of the Arms Act 'beyond reasonable doubt',” while acquitting him of conspiracy charges under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The remaining accused Lawrence, Aseem, Deepak and Vikram were acquitted of all charges.
