Beant Singh assassination: Jagtar Singh Tara held guilty, sentencing today
A Chandigarh trial court held Jagtar Singh Tara guilty for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh on Friday and the quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Saturday. The trial is going on inside the Burail Jail in Chandigarh. Tara had confessed to his crime thrice already before the court. Tara was charges sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. The CBI counsel had put 162 questions to the accused. Tara along with two others had fled the Central jail in Burail, while main accused was still on trial. In February 2004, non-bailable warrants were issued against him and in May 2004, he was declared a proclaimed offender. The then chief minister of Punjab Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. Punjab police employee Dilawar Singh had acted as a human bomb in the incident. The police had taken nine accused in custody, out of whom the fate of eight has been already decided. Tara had confessed to assassinating former Punjab chief minister during the hearing in the case in January, and said he had no regrets for his act. Tara had submitted a six-page confession in the court of additional district and sessions judge JS Sidhu, where he recorded his statements under Section 313 of the CrPC during the proceedings held at the Burail jail. Besides admitting to the crime, he also gave a detailed explanation for the assassination. -PTC News
