Babbar Khalsa militant Jagtar Singh Hawara produced in Ropar court

ROPAR: Babbar Khalsa militant Jagtar Singh Hawara, currently lodged in Tihar Jail, was today produced in a court here in connection with a 27 years old case of seizure of arms and ammunition from him.

Hawara who was the mastermind in the killing of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995 was brought from Delhi amid tight security.

He was produced before the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Sunita Sharma in the case lodged against him in 1988 at Chamkaur Sahib police station.

The judge recorded the statement of Hawara and fixed September 9 as the next date of hearing.

The police had recovered a .12 bore pistol and five live cartridges from Hawara.

Lawyers and people faced inconvenience as police blocked entry of people into the court complex. Later, the advocates went on strike to protest the police restrictions.

In 2004, Hawara had escaped from maximum security jail at Burail in Chandigarh along with two other prisoners by digging a 90-feet tunnel. He was arrested a year later from Delhi.

The 73-year-old then chief minister of Punjab Beant Singh was killed in a bomb blast at the entrance of the 10-storey state secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. In all, 17 persons, including the then CM, were killed and 15 others were injured in the incident.