Mohali, Dec. 21 -- A special CBI court in Mohali on Saturday acquitted city mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu in a 15-year-old murder case, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove his involvement in the killing beyond reasonable doubt. The case relates to the murder of Rattan Singh, who was shot dead in Bariyali village near Kharar on December 18, 2010. The firing incident also left four other members of the complainant's family injured. Following the incident, police registered an FIR at the Balongi police station under sections related to murder, attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, criminal conspiracy and the Arms Act on December 19, 2010. According to the FIR lodged by Rattan's son Harjinder Singh, the incident occurred around 9.15 pm when his cousin Gurpreet Singh had gone to collect documents from a vehicle parked outside the house of Kulwant Singh, then sarpanch of Bariyali. A confrontation followed, during which Kulwant, his brother Dilawar Singh, Amarjit Singh Sidhu and others allegedly opened fire on the complainant party. Rattan sustained a gunshot wound to the head and later died at the Mohali civil hospital, while the other injured were referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh. The FIR accused Kulwant and Dilawar of firing the shots. Amarjit was named for his alleged role in the conspiracy. Police later also booked his brother Balbir Singh Sidhu, who was the sitting Congress MLA from Kharar at the time, under charges of criminal conspiracy. The victim's son later alleged that the investigation did not proceed fairly and that the police failed to take effective action against the influential accused. He claimed that Balbir used his political position to influence the probe and shield his brother. The complainant also alleged that police officials pressured him to enter into a compromise. Citing threat to his life and lack of confidence in the investigation, Harjinder had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking protection and a transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The high court, while hearing the petition, had observed serious deficiencies in the police investigation. On October 12, 2012, justice Paramjit Singh ordered that the case be handed over to the CBI. The court recorded that the Mohali SSP had failed to honour his undertaking that the special investigation team (SIT) would conduct a fair probe. The court also dismissed the bail plea of accused Kulwant, observing that he was allegedly responsible for firing the fatal shot. The high court noted that the initial police investigation suffered from multiple lapses, including delays in recording statements of eyewitnesses, failure to send recovered weapons for forensic examination, non-production of the challan within the prescribed time and failure to take the accused on remand. The CBI subsequently conducted a fresh investigation and filed its report before the trial court. During the prolonged trial, the prosecution attempted to establish that Amarjit had played an active role in the conspiracy behind the murder. However, after examining the evidence, the special CBI court concluded that the prosecution failed to establish his role in either the firing or the alleged conspiracy. The court held that the evidence produced was insufficient to sustain a conviction, leading to his acquittal. The detailed judgment is awaited. The ruling against the remaining accused will be pronounced on December 24. Court records indicate that the motive behind the murder stemmed from a long-standing land dispute and litigation related to the appointment of Kulwant as sarpanch. The rivalry between the two sides had persisted for years before the firing incident....