Assassin who’d embrace death

Rajoana was a constable with the Punjab police and was deputed as a private security officer with a journalist of a vernacular daily in Patiala. He had no criminal background until the assassination. He is unmarried and hails from a small village,Rajoana Kala,of Raikot tehsil in Ludhiana.

According to the CBI interrogation report,Rajoana and Dilawar were close friends and staunch followers of Sikhism. “Chief Minister Beant Singh was considered the main person involved in weeding terrorism out of Punjab,an effort in which many innocents too were killed due to alleged atrocities by police,” a CBI officer said. “Both Dilawar and Rajoana had vowed to eliminate Beant Singh. In fact,Rajoana’s brother Harpinder Singh,or Goldy,had been killed in a police operation.”

Dilawar and Rajoana had done a number of recces of the Punjab Civil Secretariat before they executed the task,masterminded by Jagtar Singh Hawara,a key aide of BKI chief Wadhawa Singh.

The original plan was to kill Beant Singh at the secretariat on August 30,1995. But Lakhwinder Singh,part of the plot and a constable posted in the security of Beant Singh,informed the others that the chief minister was not visiting the secretariat that day. The plan postponed till the next day,Rajoana and Dilawar spent the night at the house of the latter’s brother,Chamkaur Singh,in Sector 45,Chandigarh.

The next afternoon,around 2 pm,the two arrived by scooter at the secretariat. Hawara and Lakhwinder arrived in an Ambassador that was meant to be the getaway vehicle.

According to the interrogation report,Rajoana eventually escaped by the scooter he had come on. It was recovered from Pritam Cycle Stand,Patiala,a few days after the blast. The Ambassador was recovered from opposite the Haryana Vidhan Sabha building,having failed to serve its intended purpose after being parked there.

Rajoana was arrested on December 22,1995,one in a series of catches with Lakhwinder the first of these. Rajoana is now in Patiala Central Jail. When at Model Jail in Burail,Chandigarh,he mostly kept to himself and never shared his cell with Hawara or the others arrested.

Deeply religious,he is a vegetarian,fond of literature and a poet,writing his verses on the walls of his cell,jail officials say. He particularly likes Gurmukhi literature.

His only family comprises his sister Kamaldeep Kaur,brother-in-law Baljit Singh,nephew Ajaydeep Singh and niece Harnoor Kaur. Only Kamaldeep has been visiting him in jail.

All options still open,though he won’t look at them

Balwant Singh Rajoana has always been open about his role in the assassination of Beant Singh. And from the day he was sentenced to death,he has insisted on not going into appeal.

As such,legal experts say,all the options available to a death row convict remain open to him,should he ever prefer to use them. It is instead the Punjab government and various organisations that are exploring their options,though petitions moved by others are not legally maintainable,the experts say.

Rajoana himself has not only made it clear that he prefers death but also warned those who have taken up his cause. On Monday,he warned against any mercy plea,attacked the SAD,the BJP and the Congress,and said he does not need the sympathy of Beant Singh’s family either. “Beware,stop,” Rajoana said in a handwritten statement,urging others “not to attempt getting the Khalsa Panth insulted at Delhi’s feet.”

Alleged mastermind Jagtar Singh Hawara has already appealed in the High Court and won a commutation to life. “Rajoana can move the Punjab and Haryana High Court or the Supreme Court,which can admit or reject his appeal. The other option still available is a mercy petition before the President,” said Anupam Gupta,a senior advocate at Punjab and Haryana High Court.

“Legally speaking,” Gupta added,“a petition moved on his behalf by anyone else is not maintainable. In criminal trials,third-party intervention regarding pardons are not maintainable. An organisation,LHRI,has moved the High Court; the petition was struck down by a division bench citing Supreme Court judgments.”

Steps taken on his behalf include the Akal Takht asking Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to take up the issue with the President,and the SGPC petitioning the President,while Badal has promised necessary legal steps. Patiala jail authorities are reluctant to carry out the execution,citing legal technicalities in an appeal to the special CBI judge,who has reserved an order until Tuesday.

(Inputs by Navjeevan Gopal)

Step by step
Planning

* Hawara,the mastermind,along with Tara and Bheora bought the escape car,an Ambassador,from Delhi. Car driven to Chandigarh,painted white and repaired.

* Gurmeet rented a house in Mohali where he designed the circuit and fixed explosives to a belt.

* Lakhwinder,already posted in Civil Secretariat,introduced Dilawar and Rajoana as his cousins to guards there.

Execution

* Rajoana and Dilawar travelled by scooter,Hawara and Tara by Ambassador. Lakhwinder was to take the car out of the parking lot after the assassination.

* Beant Singh and his physician Dr Anil Duggal were stepping into their car when a waiting Dilawar approached the CM,bowed to touch his feet and set off the bomb.

Unravelling

* Lakhwinder was the first arrest,because of the mistakes he had made. One,he had taken the man who painted the car to his house in Kansal village.

* He failed to to take the car out after the assassination,as planned.

* He kept staying in the same house for four days after the assassination; Gurmeet too kept staying at the same house in Mohali.

* Lakhwinder had exposed himself by having introducing two “cousins” to other security men

In will,eyes to ‘Bhai’,organs to the needy

In June 2008,Rajoana wrote a will donating his organs after his death. The will,handwritten in jail,was countersigned by his sister,his brother-in-law and the Chandigarh jail authorities and sent to the Akal Takht chief. Here is a translation

Ik Onkar

Oh Kabir,there is nothing of mine in this life

Whatever is there,is yours

If I surrender what is yours,unto Thee.

What do I lose or pay? Akal Purakh [God Almighty,I hereby swear on oath that after my death,all parts of my body that can benefit any person are pledged to the highest temporal authority of the Sikhs,Sri Akal Takht Sahib.

It is my earnest wish that after my death,my eyes may kindly be given to Hazuri Ragi of Sri Darbar Sahib Harmandar Sahib,Bhai Lakhwinder Singh,who is blind,so that through him,my eyes continue to revere holy Darbar Sahib. If,for medical or other reasons,this is not possible,then my eyes may be given to any other needy person.

In addition to this,any other part of my body (heart,kidneys or any other) that can be beneficial to any other person may be given to that person.

I am writing this will without any coercion or compulsion and out of my own convictions and commitment and with the approval of the members of my family.

I am happily making this will in the presence of my sister Kamaldeep Kaur,my brother-in-law Baljit Singh,my nephew Ajaydeep Singh,my neice Harnoor Kaur,superintendent of the Model Jail,Chandigarh,Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa ji,medical officer B K Salwan and other jail authorities.

[Signed

Balwant Singh Rajoana

17 June 2008

The men and their roles
Dilawar Singh

The human bomb who died in the assassination was a Special Police Officer with the Punjab Police. The explosives belt tied underneath his uniform,he reached Beant Singh as he was stepping into his car,bowed to touch his feet and pressed the trigger.

Balwant Singh Rajoana

The man the fuss is all about was a Punjab Police constable who was on standby as an alternative human bomb. He was posted as a guard with a journalist and was assigned the task of getting Dilawar across the security ring at the Civil Secretariat. He purchased the nuts,bolts,iron nails and other fillings to be used in the explosives from a scrap dealer in Patiala. He took Dilawar near the secretariat porch,then stood as a standby yards away.

Jagtar Singh Hawara

The mastermind,awarded a death before it was commuted to life. He arranged for the RDX,smuggled from across the border,and the finances to purchase,from Delhi,the Ambassador that was meant to be a getaway vehicle.

Jagtar Singh Tara

Still absconding after breaking jail along with Hawara and Bheora; the latter two were caught again. Tara,was working as a mechanic-cum-taxi driver in Delhi,helped Hawara buy the Ambassador following an advertisement in a newspaper and drove it to Chandigarh,where he got it painted in Sector 28.

Paramjit Singh Bheora

A resident of Delhi,a friend of Tara’s. He was with Tara when he drove the Ambassador to Chandigarh and got it made over.

Lakhwinder Singh

Alias Lakha. A Punjab police constable posted at the civil secretariat’s MT Section,the site for repair,fuelling and maintenance of official vehicles. Days ahead of the assassination,he was put on duty with a former MP as his driver. The day of the assassination,he asked one of his colleagues to work in his place and reached the secretariat.

Gurmeet Singh

The circuit maker. An engineer working with BPL,he designed the explosives belt. He laid out the circuit and fixed the explosives.

Shamsher Singh

Provided hideaways for explosives and terrorists. Hawara and others are alleged to have taken shelter at Shamsher’s house and hidden their explosives there.

Navjot Singh

Acquitted of conspiracy. He knew Jagroop Singh Nihang who allegedly ferried the explosives from Ambala.

Nasib Singh

Convicted,then released. Another man who was accused of helping Hawara hide the explosives. He served out his sentence.