Noida: Twenty-four years after they were arrested, a local court on Monday acquitted three men charged under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, observing that the prosecution failed to prove their involvement in the cases registered against them. Four men, all residents of Vijaynagar in Ghaziabad, were charged under the Gangsters Act by Noida sector 58 police in 2002 and subsequently arrested. One among them pleaded guilty and was sentenced while three others, including the alleged gang leader, denied the charges and sought a trial.While ordering them to furnish a personal bond of Rs 30,000 each and one surety of the like amount, additional district and sessions judge Saurabh Dwivedi said the men were being given the benefit of doubt as the prosecution could not establish that they had committed the crimes mentioned in the gang chart approved by the district magistrate of Noida.A gang chart is the primary document on the basis of which an individual is formally declared a gangster by law enforcement agencies. It contains the names of other individuals who were also involved in carrying out the crimes — other gang members — and FIR(s) registered against the gang at various police stations.A gang chart has to be approved by a civil officer for a person to be booked under the Gangster Act.The current matter is linked to a complaint by the then SHO of Sector 58 police station, Devendra Kumar Sharma, against Teetam alias Rahul, Anil, Pankaj and Bhupendra. The officer shared oral information about the four to the DM and got the gang chart approved in 2002.While Anil pleaded guilty to the charges, the rest denied the allegations and asked for a trial. The three men said the prosecution’s case was false and the case was being conducted due to police excesses.Having heard the arguments of both the sides, the judge noted that no prosecution witness had testified that the men had acquired property through illegal means, formed a gang or used intimidation and coercion to benefit themselves.“A conviction cannot be made under sections 2 and 3 of the Gangster Act merely on the basis of cases listed in a gang chart. It must also be proven that the crimes committed by the accused were committed by them, either singly or collectively, by violence, or by threat or display of violence, or by intimidation or coercion, or by any other means, with the intent to disrupt public order or to obtain undue material, economic, material, or other advantage,” the court ruled.
