Targeted Killing Cases: 5 years on, British national Jaggi Johal languishes in jail; trial yet to begin

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson had termed Johal’s arrest by Punjab Police in 2017 “arbitrary” and also raised the demand for his release from jail in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

NIA is investigating eight targeted killing cases allegedly reported in Punjab between January 2016 and October 2017. Most of the accused are the same in these cases. In recent months, the NIA court had ordered to frame charges in six of these cases, which were allegedly result of same conspiracy that dates back to 2013. These six cases include murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Ravinder Gosain; firing on RSS shakha in Kidwai Nagar in Ludhiana; murder of Shiv Sena leader Durga Prasad; killing of Hindu Takht leader Amit Sharma; murder of father-son duo who were followers of Dera Sacha Sauda; and murder of pastor Sultan Masih.

Charges were framed in three of the six cases. The trial in these three cases is expected to start towards the end of November.

In these six cases, Hardeep Singh Shera and Ramandeep Singh Shera are the alleged main shooters whereas Jaggi Johal and Amaninder Singh are the alleged conspirators. The court had issued orders to frame charges against these four under different sections of UAPA along with murder or attempt to murder in above mentioned six cases.

Also, the NIA Delhi court maintained that accused Dharminder Singh @ Guguni, Anil Kumar @ Kala, Manpreet Singh @Manni, Pahad Singh, Parvez and Malook Tomar will be prosecuted only under Section 25 of the Arms Act where as accused Ravipal @ Bhunda will be tried under Section 120(B) of the IPC as well as the Arms Act. All these seven accused have been discharged of all the charges under various sections of UAPA, murder or attempt to murder.

According to the NIA, “Targets were selected for killing by accused Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh and this was done to instil terror in the minds of public in general and the members of a specific community.”

The NIA said in court, “In order to achieve the object of conspiracy, Jagtar Singh Johal, Harmeet Singh, Gurjinder Singh @ Shastri, Gursharan Singh and Harminder Singh @ Mintoo hatched the modus operandi of identifying the targets, persons belonging to or having affiliation to certain specific organisations. They identified and chose two shooters namely Hardeep Singh @ Shera and Ramandeep Singh. Training was imparted to them in Italy and Dubai to execute the plot and they were taught to evade detection, to conceal their identity and source of funds. They were provided with necessary funds and were also given specific targets who were to be eliminated.”

About specific allegations against Johal, the court order to frame charges reads, “Accused Jagtar Singh is liable to be charged for organising a terrorist camp and in this regard, it has been contended that he had provided GBP 3,000 to deceased Mintoo which is apparent from the confessional statement of @ Mintoo … It is contended that this money must have been utilised to organise a terrorist camp …”

Johal’s family has been running a campaign for his release since his arrest in India.

Funding from other sources

The NIA chargesheet in the case discloses that the shooters allegedly received funding from other sources too. Johal’s link to the targeted killings is established through his Paris visit only.

“Between July 19, 2016, and November 8, 2017, Hardeep Singh received at least Rs 23,14,366 while he was in India. Funds that Hardeep Singh received for executing the plot were sourced from abroad and these funds were received through various modes such as money transfer services, banking transfer and through hawala channels. All the funds transferred to Hardeep Singh through Western Union or Moneygram were routed through Italy. These funds were first sent to Shastri in Italy through money transfer services.”

The NIA chargesheet reads that accused Ramandeep Singh had been spending money much beyond his known sources of income and that he was receiving funds from extraneous sources during the period of the conspiracy.

Weapons came from UP

Though the NIA linked Pakistan-based Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD (now believed to be dead) to the murder case, all the weapons used by the shooters came from Uttar Pradesh.

“Accused Hardeep Singh had purchased five weapons from Meerut-Ghaziabad area of UP. During one such visit in May 2017, Hardeep Singh had purchased a .32 bore pistol at a cost of Rs 65,000. Hardeep Singh had bought a .315 bore katta from Pahad Singh for an amount of Rs 3,000 and two .32 bore pistols and some ammunition from Parvez @ Farru for Rs 70,000. On July 9, 2017, Hardeep Singh again visited Meerut to purchase another weapon and met Malook. Hardeep Singh gave two pistols to Malook for repair and also struck a deal with accused Malook to buy a new .32 bore pistol. Malook charged Rs 10,000 for repair of 9mm pistol and gave him a new. 32 bore pistol for Rs 40,000,” reads the NIA chargesheet.

How it started

According to the NIA, “In or around June 2013, when Hardeep Singh was staying in Cremona, Italy, in the house of one Daljit Singh, at that time Gurjinder Singh @ Shastri approached Daljit Singh and asked him if Harminder Singh @ Mintoo (founder member and self-styled chief of Khalistan Liberation Force) could stay at their house for a few days. During his stay at the house of Daljit Singh, Mintoo interacted closely with Hardeep Singh and convinced Hardeep Singh (A-1) of the need to commit violence in the name of ‘Khalistan’. In between his stay at Daljit’s house, Shastri, Mintoo and Hardeep Singh took a tour of France and Germany.

In the French capital, Mintoo and Shastri went to Paris airport and received British national Jagtar Singh Johal, who had been sent from the UK by Gursharanbir Singh to deliver GBP 3,000 to Mintoo (A-5). A part of this money Mintoo gave to Hardeep Singh to motivate him to join the KLF and recruit him for executing the plot. It is also alleged that Jagtar Singh Johal was a close confidant of Pakistan-based Harmeet Singh @ PhD.”

Based in Scotland

A British national and resident of Dumbarton in Scotland, Johal had travelled to India in October 2017 to get married. After the marriage, Johal’s parents and his brother, Gurpreet, returned to the UK while Johal stayed back. On November 4 that year, the Punjab Police apprehended Johal, alleging his involvement in a number of targeted killings in the country. Johal has been in prison since November 2017.