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HC seeks details from ‘prime witness’ in Beant Singh assassination
A Punjab and Haryana high court bench on Friday sought evidence details from a man who seeks reward for being “a prime witness” in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.
A Punjab and Haryana high court bench on Friday sought evidence details from a man who seeks reward for being “a prime witness” in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.
The direction came from the high court bench of justice RK Jain after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted that there were many claimants for the reward for sharing information with the agency in this case. On the next hearing on December 5, the bench requires a response from “prime witness” Balwinder Singh, who has moved the high court to release of `10 lakh award money that the CBI had promised to whoever would lead it to the accused.
The petitioner had moved the high court in 2014, submitting that his cues had led the police to the accused but he was yet to get his reward after 18 years of putting his and his family’s life at risk. They were threatened by terrorists. “If I don’t get the award, people will hesitate to come forth with information in similar cases,” the Chandigarh resident argued.
Beant Singh was killed on August 31, 1995, outside the civil secretariat in Chandigarh. In July 2007, a trial court awarded death sentence to Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh Rajoana in the case, besides life sentence to Shamsher Singh and Gurmeet Singh; and 10-year imprisonment to Lakhwinder Singh and Nasib Singh.
