Beant Singh killing: Bheora sentenced to life

A special trial court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to Paramjit Singh Bheora,chief of banned Babbar Khalsa International,for his involvement in the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh 14 years ago. Additional District and Sessions Judge R K Sondhi handed down the sentence to Bheora,who headed the terrorist outfit’s operations in India and was arrested in 1997,after he was held guilty for criminal conspiracy and for his involvement in killing of Singh in a car blast on August 31,1995,at high-security Punjab Civil Secretariat complex.

However,counsel for Bheora,Arvind Thakur,told reporters that they will challenge the verdict.The CBI had booked nine persons in the case. Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh were awarded death sentence in 2007. Other accused Gurmeet Singh,Lakhwinder Singh and Shamsher Singh were awarded life imprisonment.