New Delhi, Apr 1 (IANS): A court here has acquited five men accused of dacoity and pulled up the Delhi Police for making contradictory statements in the case.

Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Tewari, while acquitting five accused being tried for committing a dacoity, observed Saturday that they were arrested by six police officers who were only armed with batons.

"It does not appeal to the common sense that only six police officials were deputed to apprehend a gang of dacoits who were allegedly armed with deadly weapons," said judge Tewari.

The court observed many contradictions in the statements of six prosecution witnesses (PWs), who were police officers, during cross examination.

"From a bare reading of the said cross examination of the said six PWs, the alleged members of the raid party, it is crystal clear on the record that the answers given by them with regard to different facts are so inconsistent with each other that the same cannot co-exist qua the said facts," the court ruled.

One of the witness failed to remember whether they had taken any service arms along with them and he further replied that no other articles were there with them and that all the constables only had batons in their possession during patrolling.

According to the prosecution, police apprehended five people - Sunil, Ravi, Manish Pandey, Santosh and Tilak Ram - from Jahangir Puri in north Delhi, alleging that they were planning to commit dacoity at a godown.

Police had alleged that they had recovered various weapons including a button-actuated knife, an iron rod, a "farsa" (an axe-like weapon), a hammer and an iron buckle from the men.

Police told the court that the accused were apprehanded on the basis of secret information given by an informer. The court observed that police had failed to establish their case against the accused in the absence of any public witness.