New Delhi, India —Two witnesses to the slaying of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi testified Monday that one of the alleged Sikh assassins had shouted, “We have done what had to be done” after he shot her.
The testimony by the two policemen, the first eyewitness accounts of the slaying in the three week old trial of three Sikhs, backed the prosecution case that the assailants conspired to kill Mrs. Gandhi in revenge for the Army assault on the Golden Temple in June 1984.
Monday’s raucous proceedings, held in a makeshift courtroom in high security Tihar Jail, ended with prosecution and defense lawyers shouting insults at each other and the judge calling for order.
On Monday, Lakhi refused to cross-examine Narain Singh, claiming that the prosecution had deliberately failed to produce as witnesses two doctors involved in Mrs. Gandhi’s autopsy.
After Dayal’s testimony, Lekhi got into a heated shouting match with assistant prosecutor A. P. Ahluwalia, charging that he had failed to supply the defense with a copy of the witness’ earlier statement to police.
After the judge told both sides to show restraint, a copy of the document was found, but l Lekhi complained he couldn’t read it because it was in Urdu. The judge ordered that the defense supply him with a Hindi translation.
Charged with murder in the case is Satwant Singh, a 22 years old security guard accused of gunning down Mrs. Gandhi on Oct. 31 as she walked on a garden path at her residential compound.
The other alleged killer, security guard Beant Singh, was shot dead at the scene by police commandos.
Charged with criminal conspiracy are Balbir Singh, another security guard at Mrs, Gandhi’s residence, and Kehar Singh, a civil servant and friend of Beant Singh.
All three have pleaded innocent. They face death or life imprisonment if convicted in the nonjury trial beibee judge Mahesh Chan Prosecution witness Narain Singh, a police head constable, testified that he was on security duty that morning, and was holding an umbrella over Mrs. Gandhi’s head as she walked from her house to her adjoining offices where she was scheduled to give a television interview. It was 9:10 a.m., he said.
“Beant Singh took out his revolver and fired at the prime minister and immediately thereafter Satwant Singh also started firing upon the prime minister,” the witness told the court.
He identified Satwant Singh in the courtroom, sitting inside the bulletproof glass enclosure for defendants.
Satwant Singh’s lawyer, Pran Nath Lekhi, has charged that Mrs. Gandhi was killed as part of a “family conspiracy” and alleged that government documents were forged to frame a cover-up.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 2, 1985
