Targeted killings in Punjab: 11 accused not to be moved out of Tihar jail, says Centre
MOHALI : In an indication that trial in eight cases of targeted killings/attempted killings that rocked Punjab from January 2016 to October 2017 would be shifted to Delhi, the Centre has issued a notification that bars moving all 11 accused from the Tihar Jail for ‘at least one year’. The notification was issued in the FIR lodged in the killing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP leader Ravinder Gosai. The accused were shifted to Tihar in May after a Supreme Court order. The arrests had been made in November 2017.
The notification, issued in July this year, under Section 268 (power to require attendance of prisoner) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) cites security threat as the reason. It says that ‘...all 11 accused shall not be moved out of the Tihar jail and taken out of the jurisdiction of Delhi for one year.’
The key accused are Hardeep Singh, alias Shera alias Pehalwaan, and Ramandeep Singh, alias Canadian alias Bagga. As per investigation, they were the shooters who had executed the killings. Dharminder Singh, alias Gugni, was named as the arms supplier, and Jagtar Singh Johal, alias Jaggi alias Johar, was the fund supplier.
The notification adds that with the case pending at the stage of framing of charges in a trial court, continued presence of the accused is required for speedy trial.
Defence counsel Jaspal Singh Manjhpur said, “A review against SC directions to shift all accused to Tihar is pending. We haven’t challenged the notification.”
CASES WERE TRANSFERRED TO NIA
Soon after the arrests, the Punjab government transferred some cases, including the one of Gosai; pastor Sultan Masih of Ludhiana; Shiv Sena leader Amit Arora; Durga Prasad and Dera Sirsa followers of Khanna — Satpal Kumar and his son — and Ramesh Kumar to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
After investigation, the agency filed a challan before the designated NIA court, Mohali, saying that the killings were ‘part of a trans-national conspiracy hatched by senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).’
The NIA also claimed that the attacks were executed ‘with the objective... to destabilise law and order situation in Punjab and to revive terrorism in the state,” also adding, “The conspiracy had its footprint in several countries, including, Pakistan, the UK, Australia, France, Italy and the UAE.”
“As part of the conspiracy, substantial amount of funds were supplied through Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the killings/ attempted killings, viz Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh. These funds were used by them to purchase weapons for executing the killings and arranging other logistics,” the challan added. A copy of the challan had been supplied to the accused’s counsel by withholding identifies of the witnesses.