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INDIA: BEANT SINGH ASSASSIN RAJOANA’S DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED
October 1, 2019: The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to commute the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was convicted for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, to life imprisonment.
Officials from the ministry confirmed the development on 30 September 2019 and said a decision was taken to commute Balwant Singh Rajoana's death sentence to life imprisonment.
"A decision has been taken to commute the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana. The process of issuing a formal notification is underway," a home ministry official said.
Beant Singh, credited for ending terrorism in Punjab, was assassinated on August 31, 1995, in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh.
Sixteen others also lost their lives in the terror attack in which Punjab police employee Dilawar Singh acted as a human bomb. The Babbar Khalsa terrorist was the second human bomb in case the first one would have failed in killing Beant Singh.
On 28 September, a home ministry spokesperson said eight Sikh prisoners, lodged in different jails in the country for committing crimes during militancy in Punjab, would be released by the government on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Shri Guru Nanak Devji as a humanitarian gesture. (Sources: indiatoday.in, 30/09/2019)
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