On 19 May, a Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar court acquitted Jagtar Singh Hawara serving life for the 1995 killing of former Indian National Congress’ Panjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, in another 2005 arms-and-explosives case. This clears the way for Hawara’s parole, his lawyer said after Judge Tejpartap Singh Randhawa announced the decision. The court noted no weapons were recovered. Apart from the assassination case, in the past three decades Hawara has faced 32 charges and been announced not guilty in all of them. Meanwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) decided, after consulting legal experts, that it will not withdraw the 2012 mercy petition for Balwant Singh Rajoana, another death-row convict in the Beant Singh assassination. SGPC insists the Union government must act. Also, in Delhi, the High Court ordered 1993 blast convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar to surrender as his parole ended, dismissing his medical exemption plea. Bhullar was condemned in 2001 for the bombing of Delhi Youth Congress (DYC) office that killed nine and injured 31 including then DYC president Maninderjeet Singh Bitta. In 2014, the Supreme Court of India had commuted his death sentence to life and he was transferred to Amritsar Central Jail in 2015 for treatment. In other news, after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, security agencies have widened the Pahalgam terror attack probe. Police in Haryana, Panjab, and Uttar Pradesh have arrested at least nine people, including a travel vlogger, on charges of spying for Pakistan. Panjab police said surveillance of six suspects held earlier in Pathankot, Malerkotla, Bathinda, and Gurdaspur identified about fifty more contacts now under scrutiny. In Batala, Panjab police allegedly dismantled an Inter-Services Intelligence-backed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) cell directed by Portugal-based Maninder Singh Billa and handler Jaswinder Singh alias Mannu Agwan. Six operatives were captured after an exchange of fire in which accused Jatin Kumar was injured and a 30-bore pistol seized. Investigators say the group had planned a grenade attack on a liquor vendor and took orders from BKI mastermind Harwinder Singh Rinda (earlier coverage).
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