Chandigarh police on Saturday used tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse protesters who tried to breach barricades during a march towards Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria's residence, seeking the release of Sikh prisoners, including Jagtar Singh Hawara, who is serving a life sentence for the assassination of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995.
Following the hanging of Afzal Guru, Congress MP and grandson of late former Chief Minister Beant Singh, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Monday demanded the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, the convict on death row for assassinating Beant Singh.
The court has fixed Saturday to pronounce the quantum of sentence in the case.
The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence to the six convicts on Saturday.
The Special Court of R K Sondhi reserved its verdict on the quantum of sentence till Tuesday after hearing the argument of CBI and the defence lawyer.
On August 31, 1995, then chief minister Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh.
The defence counsels said they "were not in a sound frame of mind to put up their case before the special court".
The court had on Monday reserved its verdict on the pronouncement of quantum of sentence to the six convicts in the case after hearing the argument of CBI and the defence lawyers.
Jagtar Singh Hawara, Jagtar Singh Tara and Paramjit Singh are the three main accused in the assassination of the Punjab chief minister in 1995.
Babbar Khalsa militant Jagtar Singh Tara, convicted for life in the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh's assassination, was brought in New Delhi on Friday night by a team of Punjab Police after being extradited from Bangkok.
The Akali Dal Waris Punjab De has announced Satwant Singh, son of Kehar Singh (convicted in Indira Gandhi's assassination conspiracy), as its candidate for the Bassi Pathana constituency in the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. This move highlights the party's 'Panthic' principles and focus on families who sacrificed for the Sikh Panth.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking death penalty for Babbar Khalsa terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara, the mastermind in the sensational killing of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995, saying the offence falls under the category of 'rarest of rare' cases.
As the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Punjab government pitched for a pardon for him, Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has been convicted for the assassination of former chief minister Beant Singh, today described Akali leaders as "cheaters" and asked them not to seek clemency for him.
Additional District and Sessions Judge R K Sondhi handed down the sentence to Bheora, who headed the terrorist outfit's operations in India and was arrested in 1997, after he was held guilty for criminal conspiracy and for his involvement in killing of Singh in a car blast on August 31, 1995 at the high-security Punjab civil secretariat complex.
Anti-drug activist Parvider Singh Jhota was shot dead in Mansa on October 13. His family and supporters are refusing to cremate his body until their demands for justice, including a CBI probe and resignations of top officials, are met. The incident has triggered political protests and condemnation across Punjab, with various leaders visiting the protest site and the SGPC announcing a tribute.
The four prisoners had mattresses instead of simple cement slabs for sleeping, their own kitchen, toilet, a television set and an aqua-guard water purifier.
On the run for over 10 years, Sikh militant Jagtar Singh Tara, convicted for life in the then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassination, has been deported by Thailand.
The hanging of Beant Singh assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana would not take place on March 31 as ordered by a local court, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Monday.
Following the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa, police have suspended a station house officer and arrested the alleged shooter's wife. The shooter, Ashwani Kumar, and an associate are in police remand. Investigations are ongoing into Kumar's arms licence and drug network, while Jhota's family and activists demand further action and a CBI probe, leading to a 'Punjab bandh' on Thursday.
A group of Nihangs, armed with traditional weapons, stormed a gurdwara in Rudraprayag, taking a Sikh devotee hostage on the roof to demand the release of four sect members arrested after a clash in Chamoli.
A nearly 72-hour standoff at the Nagarasu gurdwara in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag ended on Tuesday evening as a group of Nihangs holed up at the shrine vacated the premises after talks with a delegation from Punjab, officials said.
Abhay Singh of Reliance won gold in the men's 200m race as national junior records continued to tumble on the final day of the 24th National U20 Athletics Federation Competition here on Sunday.
Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu has launched a strong attack on Punjab AAP chief Aman Arora, accusing him of lowering the standards of political discourse by resorting to personal attacks against his family instead of answering questions on governance.
There are strong possibilities of some Union ministers being sent to take organisational roles in the BJP and party office-bearers being inducted into the Modi ministry.
Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan has ignited a political controversy by labelling Operation Blue Star a 'black day' and referring to those killed as 'martyrs', while criticising former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and likening the military action to an invasion.
The Supreme Court of India has directed the President to consider the mercy petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict in the 1995 assassination case of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. The court gave the President two weeks to decide on the plea. Rajoana was sentenced to death in July 2007 for his role in the bombing that killed Beant Singh and 16 others. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) filed a mercy petition on his behalf in 2012.
Punjab Police have arrested another individual, Gurjinder Singh, in connection with the freight corridor railway track blast in Shambhu, Patiala. He is a key associate of a man who died while attempting to detonate explosives on the track. The arrest has revealed links between multiple terror acts and a pro-Khalistan terror module backed by Pakistan's ISI.
Punjab Police have arrested another individual in connection with the freight corridor railway track blast in Shambhu, Patiala. The arrested person, Gurjinder Singh, is a key associate of a suspect who died while attempting to detonate explosives at the track.
The incident took place right outside Parliament's Makar Dwar, the main entrance which MPs take to enter the new Parliament building, where Gandhi was standing in solidarity with suspended Congress MPs, mostly from Punjab.
Chidambaram said that Operation Black Thunder was the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple, by keeping the Army out of the Sikh worship place.
The hanging of Balwant Singh Rajoana, assassin of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, was on Wednesday stayed by the Centre following a mercy petition.
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of Jagtar Singh Hawara, the mastermind in the Beant Singh assassination case, to life imprisonment, while it upheld the trial court's penalty to the four other accused in the case.A division bench of the court comprising Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Arvind Kumar termed the case of Hawara, who was awarded the capital punishment by the trial court in 2007, as a 'boundary line for death'.
The Supreme Court has questioned the delay in the hanging of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab CM Beant Singh, despite the Centre calling it a 'serious offence'.
A day-long bandh called by radical Sikh outfits to protest the proposed execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the Beant Singh killing case, disrupted normal life in parts of Punjab on Wednesday.
The stadium hosted the 'Dil-Luminati' concert on Saturday and Sunday and drew nearly 40,000 fans each night.
'The victory is an expression of agrarian distress and social turmoil.'
The officials said weapons were illegally being stockpiled in several de-addiction centres run by the 'Waris Panjab De' and a gurdwara in Amritsar.
BJP leader Amit Shah in a poll rally last month had asked people of Ludhiana to send Ravneet Singh Bittu to Parliament, promising them that he will make him a 'bada aadmi' (a big man).
Amritpal Singh has been styling himself on the lines of terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed during Operation Blue Star in 1984, by copying his attire, mannerisms, carrying an arrow, keeping a battery of armed bodyguards and taking the shield of religion.
The execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a co-accused in the killing of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995, is taking political connotations in the state even as top leadership of main parties Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress treaded cautiously on the issue here in Chandigarh.
