By IANS
Chandigarh : A court here is likely to pronounce its judgment in the assassination case of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh on July 27 after a trial lasting over 11 years and six months.
The pronouncement of the order was scheduled Wednesday but was adjourned to July 27 by District and Sessions Judge M.S. Mehndiratta.
The case has been heard since 1996 at a special courtroom set up inside the high-security Burail prison complex here.
The trial that ended in June was marked by the sensational escape of three accused through a 108-foot long tunnel in January 2004. Two of them were later arrested again.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had probed the case.
Beant Singh, the Congress chief minister who was credited with helping wipe out terrorism from Punjab during 1992-95 – was assassinated at the high security Punjab secretariat complex in Chandigarh Aug 31, 1995 by a human bomb, Dilawar Singh. Twelve people also lost their lives in the attack.
'Supercop' K.P.S. Gill was the Punjab director general of police (DGP) at that time.
The trial in the case was against nine accused including mastermind and Babbar Khalsa's Indian operations chief Jagtar Singh Hawara, Balwant Singh, Paramjit Singh Bheora and engineer Gurmeet Singh. One more accused, Jagtar Singh Tara, who also escaped in the January 2004 jailbreak, is still absconding.
Balwant Singh, who had trained to be the back-up human bomb for Dilawar Singh, had during the course of the trial admitted that he had conspired to assassinate Beant Singh.
The conspiracy of all the accused was unearthed when a car painter Balwinder Singh identified the car used in the assassination by the terrorists as he had painted it. He gave vital leads to the Chandigarh and Punjab police to arrest the culprits.