Vadodara: Eighteen years after they were arrested for planning to commit a dacoity in the city, the sessions court acquitted five men. The court ordered the acquittal of all the men by giving them the benefit of doubt, as the prosecution could not prove the case against them.In Jan 2008, the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) registered an FIR of criminal conspiracy against five men and arrested them for planning to commit dacoity at a house on Vasna Road in Vadodara. The police said that the men were caught with tools used in burglary and some sharp-edged weapons.The police said that Jarnel Singh, Bachhan Singh Sikligar, Kallu Singh Sikligar, Papa Singh Sikligar and Sakunt Singh Sikligar planned in advance to commit the crime, and they got special tools made for it. However, the court observed that there was no entry in the station diary about the information received by the cops, and they did not even enter the vehicle number in which they went to the spot where the accused gathered.The court also observed that the investigation was done by one of the cops who was a member of the raiding party, and it was expected that the investigation should be done by a cop who was not in the raiding party to show that the investigation was neutral. The court observed that the cops did not take statements from the residents of the colony where the gang allegedly gathered, nor was any CCTV footage produced.The court also said that it cannot be assumed that, just because the men gathered at the spot with weapons, they were planning to commit dacoity. Even if, as per the prosecution, the men were present at the spot with weapons, it is possible that they gathered to commit some other crime or for some other reason, the court observed, and added that the cops failed to prove that the men gathered to commit dacoity.
