NEW DELHI: United Akali Dal Chief Simiranjit Singh Mann, All Sikh Students Federation’s, Atinder Pal Singh and two Bombay based college lecturers were charged sheeted by the government for an alleged ‘conspiracy’ to assassinate late prime minister Indira Gandhi and to overthrow the government.
Mannisa former inspector general of police who resigned to protest the June 1984 Indian army’s bloody assault on the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh place, till now he had been kept in jail for four years without any charges being filed against him.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed charges against Mann, Atinder Pal Singh, Dalip Singh and Jagmohan Singh at the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi, S.L. Khanna on April 7. Khanna asked that the accused be produced in the court on May 15.
Balbir Singh, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court of chatges of conspiracy to kill Indira Gandhi was also to have been named as a conspirator.The government could not charge sheet him because the Supreme Court had overtime a High Court decision to hold him guilty because it found that evidence against him was fabricated. Another person, Kehar Singh a government clerk, was however hanged with Satwant Singh in January, Kehar Singh’s hanging was widely as condemned and he was considered innocent.
The new charge sheet says that the five “conspirators” met soon after the army assault and planned to “wage war against the State, hijack an Indian Airlines plane, breach the Ropar canal, assassinate Indira Gandhi and spread disorder across the country.
Instead of Balbir Singh, Kehar Singh has been named as a conspirator with the other four. He is said to have been a link between Atinder Pal Singh and Beant Singh, who along with Satwant singh had killed Mrs. Gandhi on October 31 1984.
Kehar Singh’s lawyer Ram Jethmalani had asked for the reopening of the case against his client after Atinder Pal Singh’s arrest, but his plea was rejected. The 24 page charge sheet along with 200 odd supporting documents and a list of 311 witnesses was given to the magistrate Khanna in a packed courtroom.
Four out of the five alleged conspirators were activists of the All India Sikh Students Federation.
Mann is called the leader of the group by the S.L.T, report which says that Atinderpal Singh wanted to reorganize the freedom struggle in Punjab after the Operation Bluestar, the army’s bloody assault. He found Mann as a leader with adequate grass root support, the charge sheet says.
Simiranjit Singh Mann, Atinder Pal Singh, Dilip Singh and Jagmoban Singh Tony met several times in Bombay the charge sheet alleges. At these meetings they decided to wage war against the State, it adds,
The “conspirators” also planned to write letters to foreign agencies, cut power supplies, destroy the parliament house, to incite policemen and home guards, to propagate rebellion, create disharmony against the government, kidnap children of Rajiv Gandhi and General Brar, who lead the assault on the Golden Temple, eliminate Indira Gandhi who ordered the assault, and was thus considered responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, procure arms and ammunitions and disrupt the unity and integrity of India by establishing a separate and independent state.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 14, 1989
Article extracted from this publication >>
