Beant Singh murder: SC defers hearing on Hawara's plea for transfer to Punjab jail
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred by two weeks hearing on Beant Singh murder convict Jagtar Singh Hawara's plea seeking his transfer from Delhi's Tihar jail to any prison in Punjab.
The Babbar Khalsa terrorist is serving life term in the case related to the killing of the former Punjab chief minister in 1995.
A bench comprising justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh adjourned the matter as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was not available.
On September 27 last year, the apex court issued notices to the Centre, Chandigarh administration and the Delhi and Punjab governments on Hawara's plea.
Hawara is serving imprisonment for the rest of his life in the case related to the blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat at Chandigarh on August 31, 1995 in which Beant Singh and 16 more people were killed.
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The plea filed in the apex court said Hawara's conduct in prison has been without blemish except for an alleged jail break on January 22, 2004 when he had escaped and was later arrested. It said he should be transferred from Tihar Jail in Delhi to any other prison in Punjab as there is no case pending against him in the national capital.
Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora, Tara and a murder convict Devi Singh had escaped from Chandigarh's high-security Burail Jail in January 2004 by digging a nearly 100-feet long tunnel.
Hawara and Bheora were re-arrested within the next two years. Tara, a proclaimed offender in this case, was arrested from Thailand, while Devi Singh is absconding and has also been declared a proclaimed offender.
"Petitioner (Hawara) is currently serving his life imprisonment till the rest of his life in a case registered in the state of Punjab... He is a native of state of Punjab, Fatehgarh Sahib district, and ought to be confined in a prison in Punjab," it said.
According to the plea, the petitioner had 36 false cases foisted on him after the murder of Beant Singh and he has been acquitted in all except one. One person convicted in the same case and also part of the jail break has been shifted from Tihar to a jail in Chandigarh, it said.
"The mere fact that the petitioner was considered a high-risk prisoner years ago is not a good enough reason today to keep the prisoner in Delhi and not shift him to Punjab," it said, adding that his daughter is in Punjab. Hawara's wife has died and his mother is in a coma in the US.
"The question that arises in this case is whether a person who has been accused of committing a murder in the context of serious social upheaval where tens of thousands of young Sikhs were extra-judicially executed by the state police on the instructions of the deceased Chief Minister Beant Singh, which offence has been characterised as exacerbated by his unsuccessful jail break attempt, but who has for the last 19 years led a life in prison which is without blemish can seek an order from this court for transfer to a jail in Punjab," the plea said.
In March 2007, Hawara was sentenced to death by a trial court in the case.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court in October 2010 commuted his sentence to life imprisonment with a direction that he shall not be released from jail for the rest of his life.
Hawara's petition said the appeals filed by him as well as by the prosecution against the high court verdict are pending in the apex court.
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854 people held under Operation Gang-Bust 2026 in 2 days: Delhi Police
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has rounded up and arrested 854 people and registered 690 FIRs during a massive, 48-hour anti-organised crime crackdown under their Operation Gang-Bust 2026, carried out across six states ahead of the Republic Day celebrations, officials said.
"This was one of the most extensive coordinated exercises in recent years, conducted from 8 pm on January 9 to 8 pm on January 11, to dismantle organised crime syndicates with footprints in the national capital and the National Capital Region (NCR)," Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said.
The officer said that more than 9,000 personnel drawn from district units, the Crime Branch and the Special Cell were deployed simultaneously to conduct raids on hideouts of major and minor gangs. The coordinated action covered Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
"In just 48 hours, over 4,000 hideouts of organised crime syndicates were raided, and more than 6,500 targeted people were rounded up and apprehended for questioning," said the Additional CP.
He said that sustained field-level coordination was ensured to prevent suspects from escaping or going underground.
As a result of the intensive crackdown, 690 cases were registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Arms Act, NDPS Act, Delhi Excise Act, Public Gambling Act and other relevant laws. Of those apprehended, 854 people were rounded up or arrested.
The police also released a gang-wise breakdown of arrests of shooters and active members of major and minor gangs. A total of 280 arrests were linked to identified gangs, while 207 arrests involved members of minor gangs operating in and around the capital.
Police said the arrested people included shooters, facilitators, logistics providers and associates involved in extortion, arms trafficking, drug peddling and other serious offences.
Police said that during the raids, under the Arms Act alone, 286 cases were registered and 300 persons arrested, leading to the recovery of 122 firearms, 189 knives, 129 rounds of ammunition, over 110 mobile phones and cash exceeding Rs 15 lakh. Two motorcycles and a scooter were also seized in these cases.
In NDPS-related action, 36 cases were registered and 43 persons arrested. The police recovered over 114 kg of cannabis, cocaine, heroin and charas, as well as cough syrup bottles, tramadol capsules, alprazolam tablets and buprenorphine tablets and injections. Cash amounting to over Rs 4.6 lakh, along with a car and a scooter, was also seized.
Action under the Delhi Excise Act resulted in 145 cases and 152 arrests, with the recovery of 28,364 quarters of illicit liquor, cash and vehicles. In addition, 137 cases were registered under the Public Gambling Act, leading to 285 arrests and the seizure of over Rs 5.5 lakh in cash. Under various BNS provisions, 86 cases were registered and 74 arrests made, with recoveries including cash, knives, mobile phones and motorcycles, police said.
Cumulatively, the operation led to the seizure of arms, ammunition, narcotic drugs weighing around 117 kg, psychotropic substances, illicit liquor, multiple vehicles and cash totalling over Rs 25.75 lakh, the police said.
Sharing details of last year's operations, the officer said that in the four-month period between September 1 and December 31, the Delhi Police carried out a series of targeted actions against gangsters and their networks.
During that period, seven gangsters were killed, and 21 were injured in exchanges of fire with the police. A total of 34 gangsters were arrested in cases under the MCOCA, while 149 were arrested in non-MCOCA cases. Two gangsters were deported from abroad, and trial in absentia proceedings were initiated against nine absconding accused.
Additional CP Kushwah said that 539 homes and hideouts linked to organised crime syndicates were raided during the four-month drive, leading to the recovery of 118 arms.
"Cash worth Rs 1.014 crore was seized, along with properties including 1.3 kg of gold, 14 kg of silver, eight cars, 11 motorcycles, 22 mobile phones and a laptop was seized," he said.
