Two Beant assassins get death
Twelve years after a suicide bomber assassinated former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, a special court here sentenced Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh to death and three others to life imprisonment.
By TNN |
CHANDIGARH: Twelve years after a suicide bomber assassinated former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, a special court here sentenced Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh to death and three others to life imprisonment. However, the family of the slain chief minister intends to move the high court, demanding death sentence for all the accused.
Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Lakhwinder Singh (convicted last week for conspiring to assassinate Beant Singh) were sentenced to life imprisonment by the court of additional district and sessions judge Ravi Kumar Sondhi inside the high-security Burail Jail.
Naseeb Singh, held guilty under the Explosives Substances Act, was awarded 10 years’ imprisonment by the court. As he has already spent 12 years in prison, he is likely to be let off.
Acting as a human bomb, Dilwar Singh assassinated the Congress chief minister as he came out of his office in the Punjab secretariat complex in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. Twelve others were also killed in the attack.
Speaking to ET, Tej Prakash Singh, son of the slain Chief Minister, said, “We respect the judgment, but we will appeal against this sentence in the high court. All the accused should have been given death sentence. Life imprisonment will ensure that the guilty go scot-free in 2-3 years.”
A charge-sheet was filed in the court in May 1996 in connection with the case. The hearing in the case was initially held seven days in a month. However, for the past couple of years, the hearing was held daily in the jail premises. The court examined and cross-examined around 250 witnesses during the trial.
The arguments in the case ended earlier in July. Jagtar Singh Hawara, Balwant Singh, Shamsher Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Gurmeet Singh were convicted under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
The seventh accused, Navjot Singh, was acquitted by the court. All six were convicted last week by the special CBI court in the conspiracy of assassinating Beant Singh.
Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Lakhwinder Singh (convicted last week for conspiring to assassinate Beant Singh) were sentenced to life imprisonment by the court of additional district and sessions judge Ravi Kumar Sondhi inside the high-security Burail Jail.
Naseeb Singh, held guilty under the Explosives Substances Act, was awarded 10 years’ imprisonment by the court. As he has already spent 12 years in prison, he is likely to be let off.
Acting as a human bomb, Dilwar Singh assassinated the Congress chief minister as he came out of his office in the Punjab secretariat complex in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. Twelve others were also killed in the attack.
Speaking to ET, Tej Prakash Singh, son of the slain Chief Minister, said, “We respect the judgment, but we will appeal against this sentence in the high court. All the accused should have been given death sentence. Life imprisonment will ensure that the guilty go scot-free in 2-3 years.”
A charge-sheet was filed in the court in May 1996 in connection with the case. The hearing in the case was initially held seven days in a month. However, for the past couple of years, the hearing was held daily in the jail premises. The court examined and cross-examined around 250 witnesses during the trial.
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The arguments in the case ended earlier in July. Jagtar Singh Hawara, Balwant Singh, Shamsher Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Gurmeet Singh were convicted under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
The seventh accused, Navjot Singh, was acquitted by the court. All six were convicted last week by the special CBI court in the conspiracy of assassinating Beant Singh.
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