The Hindu : National : Six persons convicted for assassinating Beant Singh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 28, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Six persons convicted for assassinating Beant Singh

One acquitted, four persons named in charge-sheet still absconding

— Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

Tears of joy: Mother of Navjot Singh cries for joy after the special court on Friday acquitted him.

CHANDIGARH: A special court on Friday, convicted six persons for assassinating the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, in 1995. While four persons named in the charge-sheet are still absconding, the court which would pronounce the quantum of punishment on Saturday, acquitted an accused due to lack of evidence.

Those pronounced guilty by the Additional Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Sondhi, who presided over the court, which was conducted inside the premises of the high security Burail Jail here, include Jagtar Singh Hawara a top operative of the terrorist outfit, the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). He along with the other accused Balwant Singh, Shamsher Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Gurmeet Singh were convicted under Sections 302, 307 and 120 (b) of the IPC and Naseeb Singh was held guilty under the Explosives Substances Act.

While the court acquitted Navjot Singh, the other accused including self-styled chief of the BKI, Wadhawa Singh, his close associate Mahal Singh Babbar, Jagroop Singh and Jagtar Singh Tara, are absconding and have been declared proclaimed offenders. Wadhawa Singh and Mahal Singh are said to be hiding in Pakistan.

However, in the trial of another accused, Paramjit Singh Bheora, some witnesses are yet to be examined. Balwant Singh and Jagtar Singh Tara had pleaded guilty and withdrawn their powers of attorney.

Talking to reporters outside the jail premises, S.K. Saxena, the counsel for the CBI, which took over the investigations from the Punjab Police, said that the quantum of punishment would be pronounced on Saturday. Meanwhile, defence counsel, Navkiran Singh has said that they will move the High Court to challenge the verdict.

On the evening of August 31, 1995, Beant Singh and 17 others, most of them NSG commandoes, drivers and office staff were killed at the VIP portico of the high security Punjab Civil Secretariat, when a suicide bomber, Dilawar Singh triggered a device as soon the Chief Minister got into his bullet-proof car. A few days later, the MLA from Pucca Kalan in Bathinda district, Baldev Singh, succumbed to the injuries he sustained. The suicide bomber was a constable in the state police.

After the prosecution filed its chargesheet in 1996, nearly 250 witnesses were produced and examined in the trial. Later, following orders from the High Court, the trial was conducted on a day-to-day basis as the prosecution dropped a considerable number of “other” witnesses.

However, the trial was seriously hampered, when the three accused including the “mastermind” of the assassination, Jagtar Singh Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora and Jagtar Singh Tara along with another convict, Dev Singh, escaped from the jail after digging a 110-feet long tunnel from their barracks in January 2004. While Hawara and Bheora were arrested, Tara is still at large.

While some of the blood relatives of the accused were allowed to sit in the courtroom when the judgement was pronounced, jail authorities did not allow anyone, including news reporters, to come beyond 500 meters from the premises. A delegation of radical Sikh organisations was also present.

Family welcomes verdict

PTI reports from Chandigarh

Beant Singh’s family welcomed the conviction of six persons involved in his killing and said they should be given the “maximum punishment”.

“Stringent punishment for the convict can only satisfy the peace-loving people of Punjab,” Beant Singh’s grandson Gurkirat Singh said. Mr. Singh said, “We will wait for the quantum of sentence that is to be announced by the court on Saturday.”

Beant Singh’s daughter and former Minister Gurkanwal Kaur said, “My father brought peace to Punjab. He was a Chief Minister when he was assassinated...a maximum punishment is desired in this case.”

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National