NIA TAKES OVER PROBE IN SHAURYA CHAKRA AWARDEE SANDHU’S KILLING
Punjab Police initial probe showed killing was a conspiracy of a Pak-based Khalistani terrorist and ISI handlers
TARN TARAN : Three months after the high-profile killing of Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who was awarded Shaurya Chakra for fighting against terrorism, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe. Sandhu, 62, was shot dead two bike-borne men, who were later on identified as Gurjit Singh, alias Bhura, and Sukhdeep Singh, alias Bha, of Gurdaspur, at his home in Bhikhiwind town of the border district on October 16, 2020.
TARN TARAN : Three months after the high-profile killing of Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who was awarded Shaurya Chakra for fighting against terrorism, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe.
Sandhu, 62, was shot dead two bike-borne men, who were later on identified as Gurjit Singh, alias Bhura, and Sukhdeep Singh, alias Bha, of Gurdaspur, at his home in Bhikhiwind town of the border district on October 16, 2020. The assailants, after committing the murder, immediately escaped on a motorcycle. A case was registered under sections of the IPC and the Arms Act at the Bhikhiwind police station on the statement of his wife Jagdish Kaur.
“During the peak of terrorism in Punjab, Sandhu and his family had fearlessly fought terrorists. For this fearless fight, the Government of India awarded him the Shaurya Chakra in 1993. Besides Sandhu and his wife Jagdish Kaur, his elder brother Ranjit Singh and his wife Balraj Kaur had also received the bravery award,” a senior NIA official said.
During the initial investigation by Punjab Police, it was revealed that the killing was executed under a conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Lakbir Singh Rode and his handlers in Interservice Intelligence (ISI), the officials said, adding that the killing was executed through Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias Sukh Bhikariwal, a resident of Bhikariwal village, in Gurdaspur.
Bhikariwal, who is facing several criminal cases including one of Nabha jailbreak episodes, was arrested on December 31 by the Delhi Police after he was deported from Dubai. He was arrested days after Bhura and Bha, along with three Kashmiri men, were apprehended by the Delhi police after having an encounter.
“Considering the gravity of the offence and its inter-state and international ramifications, the ministry of home affairs directed NIA to take up the investigation of the case. In compliance of these directions, NIA has re-registered the case and has taken up the investigation,” the NIA said in an official statement.
In November last year, the Tarn Taran police had claimed to have solved the case with the arrest of eleven persons, including two jailed gangsters. The two gangsters had confessed to the police that the killing was executed at the behest of Bhikariwal. Tarn Taran police had, however, remained unable to disclose the motive behind the killing saying “only Bhikariwal knows it”. Bhikariwal has been on remand with the Delhi police and Tarn Taran police had been planning to bring him on production warrant.
“Unsatisfied” over the Punjab Police’s probe, the family members of Sandhu had been demanding a probe from the central agency. They had even filed a plea in Punjab and Haryana High Court demanding to transfer the case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Sandhu’s wife has long been claiming that his husband’s killing was “sheer act of terrorism”.