Centre decides to release 5 Punjab cops serving life term for militancy-era crimes

New Delhi, November 14

Five police personnel, undergoing life sentence for offences committed during militancy in Punjab, will be released from jails after the Centre approved a proposal of the state government to this effect, officials said.

The decision came a fortnight after the Union Home Ministry decided to release eight Sikh prisoners, lodged in different jails in the country for committing crimes during the militancy in Punjab.

“The government of India has accepted the request of the government of Punjab for grant of special remission and release of five Punjab Police personnel undergoing sentence in different jails in Punjab for offences committed during militancy period in Punjab,” a home ministry official said.

The above decision has been approved by the government of India on “humanitarian and compassionate considerations” and a communication to this effect was sent on Monday to the Punjab government for taking necessary action.

On September 28, the home ministry had announced that eight Sikh prisoners, lodged in different jails in the country for committing crimes during the 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.

On the same day, the ministry had also said it 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. — PTI