NEW DELHE: In a new twist to the Rajiv Gandhi assassination probe, a Sikh leader told the Jain panel on July 8 that the former premier was eliminated at Sriperumbudur on May 21,
1991, by a remote-controlled device operated by a “Khalistani” militant and not by a human bomb, reports Say.
Mahant Sewa Dass Singh, president of the Shaheed Pheruman Akali Dal, told the commission that the self-styled Khalistan Council leader, Jagjit Singh Chohan told him a day after the assassination that it was not carried out by a human bomb but by a remote controlled device, triggered off by one “Hira,” a militant.
The Sikh leader also quoted Dr. Chohan as saying that the controversial religious figure, Chandraswamy, and former Haryana Chief Minister, (Om Prakash Chautala, were among the main financiers of these outfits.
The Mahant, in his earlier deposition, had alleged that the plot to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi was hatched jointly by four groups Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Babbar Khalsa and the LTTE, in a meeting at the London residence of Dr. Chohan which was also being used as a “Khalistan” office.
‘The discussion between the Mahant and Chohan took place when the former telephoned the Khalistan Council chief day after Rajiv Gandhi was Killed and told him “you have done a wrong thing.”
The Mahant’s cross-examination continued after he submitted several documents, including a copy of the better purportedly written by Chohan to the then Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar,
Stating that he had informed Chadrashekhar and Gandhi himself about the threats, the Akali faction leader said that during his visit to London in the last week of December 1990, he came to know that KLF activist Talwinder Singh Parmar had held meetings in Delhi and Bombay to collect funds.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 14, 1995
