By Jaideep Sarin, IANS
Chandigarh : Two Babbar Khalsa terrorists were Tuesday sentenced to death by a special trial court here for the 1995 assassination of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. But his family was not satisfied and demanded death penalty for all five convicts.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Sondhi pronounced the death sentence for Jagtar Singh Hawara, the mastermind, and Balwant Singh. Both belonged to the terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa, which was seeking a separate Sikh homeland called "Khalistan".
The sentence was pronounced at a special courtroom inside the high security Burail jail here.
The judge awarded life imprisonment to three others – Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Lakhwinder Singh – who were convicted last week for conspiring to assassinate Beant Singh.
But the family of the slain chief minister was not satisfied with the life sentence handed down to them.
"The death penalty for Hawara and Balwant Singh is good. We want the same for the other three also," said Tej Prakash Singh, Beant Singh's son.
Beant Singh's widow Jaswant Kaur nodded in approval.
Lawyers supporting the family said the three convicts awarded life terms could walk free in two-three years as they had already completed nearly 12 years in prison.
A suicide bomber, Dilawar Singh, killed the chief minister as he came out of his office at the high security Punjab civil secretariat here Aug 31, 1995.
Balwant Singh was the second human bomb, to be used in case the first suicide bomber failed to kill Beant Singh.
A sixth person convicted in the same case under the Explosives Act, Naseeb Singh, was awarded 10 years imprisonment by the court Tuesday. Since he has already spent 12 years in prison, he is likely to be let off.
All six were last week convicted by the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the conspiracy of assassinating Beant Singh, who became chief minister in 1992.
Beant Singh, along with "super cop" K.P.S. Gill, was largely credited with wiping out terrorism from Punjab by dealing with terrorists with an iron hand.
Former minister in the Beant Singh government and All-India Terrorist Front leader, Maninderjit Singh Bitta, Tuesday claimed that he and Beant Singh's grandson Gurkirat Singh were attacked by a mob outside the Burail jail complex here.
He said that Hawara's sister and relatives of other convicts tried to attack them as they were proceeding towards the special court.
"They sent women to confront us physically. They wanted us to retaliate so that a violent situation could take place and the sentencing could be put off. They damaged our security Gypsy," Bitta said.
Bitta demanded that anti-terrorism military courts be set up in the country to decide such high-profile cases within six months.
"Let them announce death penalties or life terms. The case should not linger on endlessly," he added.
The Beant Singh assassination trial took over 11 years. Nearly 250 witnesses were examined during this period.