Ex-deputy speaker of Manipur acquitted

NEW DELHI: In an embarrassment to the Delhi Police and intelligent agencies, a trial court has acquitted the former deputy speaker of Manipur Assembly , T Shaymkumar Singh, along with two others, of charges of being involved in terror acts.
Stating that the prosecution could not prove the charges , additional sessions judge Satinder Kumar Gautam acquitted the three accused, who had been charged with stringent provisions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.The judge, however, convicted two Manipuri youths, who were arrested along with Singh, on charges of impersonation and carrying fake identity cards.
While convicting the youths, who claimed to be human rights activists, the court freed them on March 18, setting off their sentences against the period of detention in Tihar Jail. The two had been in Tihar since October 2006 after their arrest outside IGI airport by Delhi police following a tipoff by Intelligence Bureau, which suspected them to be members of UNLF.
“The prosecution has been able to prove only the charges (of impersonation) under Section 419 of IPC against accused MJ K Singh and P G Singh (the two Manipuri youths)," the court said. "There is no evidence on record to prove against the accused T Shyamkumar Singh that he has given financial assistance or help to perform any unlawful activity either in Manipur or in the territory of India," the court noted.