There was ‘‘no valid reason’’ for the filing of two FIRs leading to the arrest of two Punjab businessmen, their subsequent arrest and alleged murder, the prosecution in the 1994 custody killing case against senior Punjab

Police officer Sumedh Singh Saini submitted in a special court here on Saturday.

The prosecution alleged that Saini and the other accused were ‘‘not acting within their legal duties’’ when they arrested the businessmen, and that going by the facts of the matter a clear case of abduction with intent to murder could be made out against the accused.

The prosecution’s contention was made during arguments on charges against Saini, currently Punjab Police IG (Headquarters), and four other police officers, in the court of CBI special judge Vinod Goel.

Saini and his co-accused have been charged with wrongfully arresting Vinod Kumar Walia and his brother-in-law Mukesh Kumar on March 15, 1994, in connection with two FIRs charging them with financial irregularities in their dealings with Allahabad Bank. The CBI claimed Saini had a personal grudge against the owners of Ambala-based Saini

Motors, his relatives by marriage, and wanted to harm them by targeting their financiers Walia and Ashok Kumar.

Concluding his argument, CBI prosecutor Y K Saxena charged that Saini and his co-accused were clearly not acting within the bounds of their duties. ‘‘The intervening period between the disappearance of the victims following their arrest 12 years ago clearly points to their murder. Therefore a clear case of abduction with intent to murder (Section 364 of the IPC) can be made out against the accused,’’ the prosecutor charged.

... contd.