CHANDIGARH: Thai authorities have extradited sikh terrorist Jagtar Singh Tara, assassin of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, to India. And Thai Police handed him over to the Punjab Police, in Bangkok.
The development comes days after a Bangkok court on Tuesday ordered the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terrorist’s extradition. However, US-based rights group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) had hired top Thai attorneys to help ‘Tara’ challenge the Thai Criminal Court’s order to extradite him to India.
It is after eleven years that he has been arrested and brought back to India. He along with others had escaped from the high security Burail Jail here, in 2004, after digging a 100-feet long tunnel.
A four member Punjab Police party positioned in Bangkok would bring Tara to India on Thursday. Rajinder Singh Sohal, DSP (Rajpura) camped in Bangkok since January 13, for liaison and co-ordination with the Thai authorities and a three member police team headed by Tejinderjit Singh Virk, DSP(Counter Intelligence), reached Bangkok on January 15. After completion of administrative formalities, Tara was been handed over to the Punjab Police team.
KTF chief Tara was nabbed in Thailand on January 5 on culmination of an operation developed in co-ordination with the Central agencies based on specific leads provided by the Punjab Police. The operation had started in August 2014 when the Counter Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police had tracked Tara to Thailand. A Thailand court ordered his extradition on January 7, 2015. Punjab Police remained in constant touch with the Central agencies and Thailand authorities for expediting the administrative measures for his extradition and it was finally done on January 16.
A Punjab Police team headed by Jaskaran Singh Teja, Superintendent of Police, (Detective) Patiala will oversee Tara’s security during his journey from the IGI here to Patiala.
Tara would be produced in the competent court in Patiala and Police would seek remand for his questioning would be sought.