MUMBAI, June 7 -- A sessions court has acquitted three men accused of assaulting police personnel during the 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, citing lack of evidence, and serious lapses in the investigation. Additional Sessions Judge K M Jaisingani acquitted Tajuddin Abduljabbar Shaikh, Azaruddin Tajuddin Shaikh and Moinuddin Tajuddin Shaikh, holding that the prosecution failed to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt. According to the prosecution, complainant Pradip Nivrutti Deshmukh, then attached to Antop Hill police station, was on election bandobast duty at a polling booth on February 21, 2017, when Moinuddin allegedly pushed him and caused injuries. While police personnel were taking him to the police station in a taxi, the other two accused allegedly intervened, pulled him out and assaulted the officers. However, the court noted that the prosecution failed to produce any evidence showing that Deshmukh and another police witness were officially deployed on election duty at the time. The court also flagged the absence of independent witnesses despite the alleged incident occurring at a polling booth and found contradictions in the accounts of the two police witnesses. It observed that the prosecution relied largely on police testimony even though the incident allegedly took place in a public setting. It was noted that the medical certificate recorded a history of assault by an "unknown person". The accused were arrested nearly two months after the incident and no test identification parade was conducted. "There is no clear evidence about the involvement of the accused," the court said. The court acquitted all three and asked them to furnish fresh bonds as required under law....