TADA convict Khera brought to Punjab

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 25

Gurdeep Singh Khera, convicted in two separate cases under TADA in 1996 and 2001, was brought to Punjab from Karnataka tonight.

He was brought in a train that stopped at the Ludhiana station for a few minutes en route to Amritsar.

Khera waived at his supporters who were holding placards demanding his release from the jail. Khera said he was happy to be back in Punjab after 25 years. His transfer was being awaited since earlier this week.

The police and intelligence agencies remained tight-lipped about the transfer. The decision to transfer him to Amritsar Jail at midnight was taken at a meeting of senior police officers.

The midnight shifting was aimed at avoiding confrontation following Hindu radical groups’ threat to stage a protest on his arrival in Punjab. The Congress and the ruling alliance partner BJP had been opposing the decision to shift Khera to Punjab. Khera said all Sikh prisoners should be released at the earliest as they had committed no crime.

Meanwhile, BJP’s National Vice-President Avinash Rai Khanna, while commenting on the shifting of Gurdeep Singh Khera to Amritsar Jail, on Friday said it is the responsibility of the state government to maintain law and order.

Khanna, who was here to flag off a rally against drug abuse, said Khera was shifted following a formal procedure.

He, however, refused to comment on the Lalit Modi controversy surrounding Rajasthan CM Vasundhra Raje, HRD Minister Smriti Irani and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.