Chandigarh Police to seek custody of 1999 blast accused Rattandeep

According to police sources, Rattandeep Singh had come to the city a day before the blast, on June 29, 1999 and had left the city immediately after the blast. The explosive, RDX was planted in the dickey of the Bajaj Chetak which was sold and resold seven times. Rattandeep had borrowed the scooter from Sher Singh, a resident of Rohar Village in Jind District on June 28. Sher Singh had bought the scooter on June 25.

“The chassis number and the registration number of the scooter which was used as a carrier of the bomb was intact. From the chasis number it was found that the Registration and Licensing Authority of Panipat had registered the vehicle on number HR-06-A-5079”, said DSP (operations) Satbir Singh, who was then an Inspector.

The then SSP CSR Reddy had sent a team of police officials to Panipat to find out about the owner of the scooter which was found to be Sher Singh. As soon as the police found out about the owner, residences of Sher Singh and Rattadeep were raided. While Sher Singh was arrested, Rattandeep managed to escape through the fields.

“After he escaped from Jind, he was suspected to have moved to Pakistan with his wife. The police of many states had been looking for the accused who had managed to escape arrest for the last 15 years”, said DSP Satbir.

The blast had rocked the city at around 12.30 pm on June 30, 1999 at the parking of the old Passport office in Sector 34. Four persons were injured in the blast and many vehicles were damaged.

Who is Rattandeep Singh?
*Rattandeep Singh belongs to village Rohar in district Jind in Haryana. In March 1992, he completed his matric, worked at his fields for two months, earned money, got his passport made and went to Bangkok on May 4, 1992.
*After staying there for a fortnight, Rattandeep went to Germany where he stayed for nearly two months. From Germany, he shifted to Belgium in September 1992 and stayed there for about 10 months.
*He went to Pakistan in March 1993 on forged passport in the name of Harjinder Singh, a resident of Kapurthala. He underwent arms training twice in August 1993 and June 1994 in a camp located in hilly terrain about 45 Kms from Islamabad.
*Pandey Khan of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) received him at the airport and was in-charge of the arms training imparted to Rattandeep. He worked as the driver of Paramjeet Singh Panjwar, who was the head of Khalistan Commando Force (KFC).
*Rattandeep had returned to India on July 4, 1996 and was booked in an Arms Act case in Jind. He was released on bail on July 31, 1996 and stayed with his family till the blasts in Chandigarh. On July 3, 1999, he had managed to escape from the police and was absconding since then.