PO’s abduction case: IG Gautam Cheema, 5 others acquitted

A special CBI court in Mohali acquitted former inspector general of police Gautam Cheema, co-accused Ajay Chaudhary and four others in the 2014 case under IPC sections 120-B, 186 and 225. The court set aside the trial court’s conviction of Cheema, Chaudhary, Rashmi Negi, Varun Utreja, Vicky Verma and Aryan Singh, noting serious inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, hostile witnesses (including Gulati, who denied the alleged sequence), absence of proper daily diary entries, and that digital evidence (CCTV and call data) was either non-compliant with Section 65-B or inconclusive.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI re-registered the case and conducted a fresh probe.

An FIR was registered in connection with the August 26 incident.

Prosecution says Sumedh Gulati, a proclaimed offender in a cheating case, was picked up from Max Hospital in Mohali and taken to a police station. The prosecution claims Gautam Cheema, then IG Punjab, arrived with associates and forcibly removed Gulati from custody and took him back to the hospital, where he was allegedly assaulted.