BEANT SINGH ASSASSINATION CASE : ANGRY RELATIVES OF CONVICTS ATTACKED AIATF CHIEF M S BITTA, POLICE HAD TO INTERVENE
Chandigarh: All eyes were set on the main gate of high security Burail Jail in Chandigarh, where the final verdict in the Beant Singh assassination case was pronounced inside a special courtroom.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Sondhi pronounced the death sentence for Jagtar Singh Hawara, the mastermind, and Balwant Singh. Life imprisonment was awarded to three others — Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Lakhwinder Singh — who were convicted last week for conspiring to assassinate Beant Singh.
Naseeb Singh, who was held guilty by the Court and awarded ten years of imprisonment was released today as he had undergone more than his sentence. The 72 year old was welcomed by his wife Avtar Kaur and daughter Harpreet.
The Court has given seven days time to Hawara and Balwant Singh to make an appeal in the High Court, failing which the death sentence will be confirmed.
After the sentences were announced, an angry mob of relatives and supporters of the convicted tried to attack M S Bitta, President of All India Anti Terrorist Front, who was attempting to shield himself in a police jeep.
The high voltage drama of Bitta’s chase reportedly started after a gesture from Bitta challenging the relatives of the convicts to stop him from reaching the main gate of the jail. The relatives, reportedly, got agitated as they were not allowed to go near the gate.
Breaking the tight security ring and crossing the barricades, the mob then started chasing Bitta’s vehicle until the situation was brought under control by Deputy Superintendent of Police K I P Singh. The DSP took control on the driving seat of Bitta’s vehicle and drove out of the jail premises through the rear gate.
“This is injustice! We are the relatives of those are to be awarded sentence, and if we are denied entry to the main gate, who is Bitta to be given permission to go there,” questioned an angry Baljeet Kaur, sister of Hawara, the main convict. “He challenged us to stop him from going inside. We would have never reacted if he had not made such ‘obnoxious’ gestures,” said another relative.
While the supporters kept raising the slogans ‘waheguruji ka khalsa, waheguruji ki fateh’, the defence counsels emerged with the judgment. After hearing of capital punishment for her brother Balwant, his sister Kamaljeet Kaur had nothing to say but a blank expression on her face. “We already knew that he will be awarded death sentence. We had no hopes from the Court,” said Kaur.
On the other hand, Bhagwant Singh, brother of another convict Shamsher Singh, accused the CBI of falsely implicating his brother, while Shamsher’s wife Baljinder Kaur expressed resentment against jail officials for not allowing her to meet her husband. Expressing dissatisfaction over the judgment, Darshan Singh, father of Lakhwinder Singh said, “This is no justice. We will challenge the judgement in the High Court”.
Source: Express News Service