2 min readJammuFeb 1, 2015 02:34 AM IST
First published on: Feb 1, 2015 at 02:34 AM IST
Less than two years after Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay was killed in Kot Bhalwal Jail, accused Vinod Kumar was acquitted on Friday by the Principal District and Sessions Judge R S Jain as prosecution failed to present “cogent and clear evidence proving his guilt”. The killing was allegedly in retaliation to the murder of Indian prisoner Sarabjeet Singh in Pakistan’s Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore.
Sanaullah, who had served 14 years of this double life sentence for engineering blasts in Jammu in 1994, was attacked with a shovel by fellow inmate Vinod Kumar on the morning of May 3, 2013, the day Sarabjeet succumbed to injuries inflicted on him in the Lahore jail.
“No prosecution witness has stated that they have seen the accused Vinod Kumar assaulting and inflicting fatal injuries on the deceased Sanaullah with shovel,” the judge observed. Referring to the prosecution’s failure to examine the investigating officer, the judge ordered that articles seized in the case shall be destroyed after expiry of the period of appeal.
Acquitting the accused, the court also referred to the prosecution’s failure in producing two Pakistani prisoners — Mohammad Shafaqat and Babu Naseem — as witnesses despite having preponed the case to record their statements as they had to be deported.
Three prison guards, who were presented as prosecution witnesses, said they were not present when Sanaullah was attacked and only rushed to the spot on hearing commotion.
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