Lately, gangster Sampat Nehra has seen a series of acquittals in cases listed before the district court, with complainants either turning hostile or failing to appear in court to testify.

Nehra, who hails from Kalori village in Rajasthan and is currently incarcerated in Bathinda jail, is facing a staggering 63 cases involving charges such as extortion, murder, attempt to murder, and violations of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act in different trial courts in the region.

Despite the multitude of charges against him, Nehra has not been convicted in any case. His counsel, advocate Raman Sihag, said, “He (Nehra) has been acquitted in at least five cases, three of which originated from the Chandigarh court.”

2018 extortion case

A week ago, the gangster was acquitted in a 2018 extortion case from the local court.The complainant, Ashwani Kumar, the owner of Kumar Brothers Medical Stores in Sector 11 D, had alleged that on April 10, 2018, he had received a call from a man who identified himself as Nehra and demanded ₹3 crore from him. When the complainant expressed his inability to pay the hefty amount, the accused allegedly threatened him with dire consequences. A case under Section 384 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against Nehra, a resident of village Kalori, Rajasthan, on April 17, 2018.

However, Ashwani turned hostile in court. The order mentions: “Moreover, it was the complainant, Ashwani Kumar, who could have deposed regarding the call received by him on April 10, 2018, and who could have proved his complaint. However, the said complainant has not stepped into the witness box.”

2018 criminal intimation charges

This acquittal came weeks after Nehra was acquitted in a 2018 case where he was accused of criminal intimidation and threatening a hotelier to coerce him into giving false evidence in court. The complainant, Mohammad Kalam of Burail village, said that on May 29, 2018, he received a WhatsApp call from someone who introduced himself as Sampat Nehra. “He said if my testament in court was not in favour of Kali Bhai, he would kill my family and me,” Kalam had told the court. On his complaint, a case was registered against Nehra at the Sector 36 police station on June 8, 2018.

But during the trial, Kalam, the sole witness, turned hostile. He submitted that he had never registered a complaint against anybody, and had never received any threatening phone call. “Nothing favourable could be extracted during the cross-examination of Kalam, who has categorically deposed that he had not received any threatening call. He has failed to identify the accused,” the judgment dated January 31 observed, while acquitting him of charges levelled under Section 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 195 A (threatening any person to give false evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.

2016 attempt to murder case

Similarly, in 2022, another witness turned hostile, leading to his acquittal in a 2016 attempt-to-murder case. In his complaint, Sandeep Singh said, “On December 30, 2016, at around 4.30 pm, Sampat Nehra and his accomplice followed him in their car and fired at him near his house in Sector 27-D, Chandigarh over an old rivalry with his friend.”

On December 31, 2016, a case was registered for attempt to murder and under other sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act at the Sector 26 Police Station. However, he kept mum in court.

While acquitting Nehra, the judgement dated February 16, 2022, said, “The star witness of the prosecution, the complainant, Sandeep Singh, with whom the incident occurred, has not raised any accusing fingers towards the accused. He has kept mum about the identity of the person who fired the gun shot at the relevant time, place and manner as suggested by the prosecution. There is not an iota of evidence to connect the accused with the alleged commission of crime.”

“As the star witness of the prosecution has refused to tread to the dotted line of the prosecution, no option is left with the Court, but to acquit the accused,” he said.