Rulda murder case: Chandigarh cops want Tara shifted to Punjab jail

PATIALA: Sikh radical Jagtar Singh Tara, who is already serving a life sentence for the 1995 assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, was produced before a Patiala court on Friday, in connection with the murder of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat chief Rulda Singh who was gunned down outside his house in 2009.
This was the first time in three years that Tara was produced before a court in the case. During court proceedings, Chandigarh Police moved an application that since no case was pending against Tara in the Union territory, he be shifted to a jail in Punjab in view of the case pending against him. Chandigarh Police said it was difficult to bring Tara for court hearings from the city due to security reasons.

As per an earlier court order, there was a ban on taking Tara out of Chandigarh’s Burail Model Jail since he was facing charges in the Beant murder case. As the case had been decided on recently, the ban, imposed under Section 268 of the CrPC, had been lifted. After this, his defence counsel Brijinder Singh Sodhi had moved an application in court, seeking that Tara be brought before the Patiala court on a production warrant.

Admitting the plea, the court issued a notice to the prosecution to file a reply in this regard.

Citing security reasons, Punjab Police moved another application, seeking that orders be passed for producing Tara before the court through video conferencing. However, the defence strongly opposed the move claiming that it was the right of the accused to be present in the court for the hearing of his case. After hearing the contentions, the court fixed May 3 as the next date of hearing to take a final call on the issue.

Tara had been booked for Rulda’s murder along with over a dozen suspects, including some UK-based Khalistan supporters. The court has already acquitted five persons, including Darshan Singh Makaropur, Jagmohan Singh, Daljeet Singh, Gurjantc Singh and Amarjeet Singh, in the case.

Hearing against Tara and another Khalistan Tiger Force terrorist Ramandeep Singh Goldy is pending. While Goldy had been extradited from Malaysia in November 2014, Tara was arrested in Thailand and brought to India in January 2015.

Rulda was shot outside his residence in Patiala on July 28, 2009. He was rushed to the local Rajindra Hospital and from there to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, where he died on August 15, 2009.