Fourteen acquitted in 2004 Burail jailbreak case

Aneesha Sareen

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 11

Eleven years after four inmates of the high-security Burail jail escaped by digging a 109-foot tunnel, a local court today acquitted 14 accused, barring escapees Babbar Khalsa International chief Jagtar Singh Hawara and BKI India head Paramjeet Singh Bheora.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Anubhav Sharma convicted Hawara and Bheora, but it said they had already undergone the sentence. “Nothing substantial was argued for them, they could have no defence,” said the court while convicting them under Sections 120B and 224 of the IPC.

The sensational escape occurred on the night of January 21 in 2004 when four undertrials, including Beant Singh assassins Bheora, Hawara and Jagtar Singh Tara, along with their cook Devi Singh (a murder accused) escaped from barrack number 7 of the jail by digging a tunnel. Hawara was rearrested in 2005 for his involvement in twin blasts in Delhi, while Bheora was rearrested in 2006 by the Delhi Police for planning to set up a base in Delhi.

Tara was arrested from Thailand in January this year, while Devi Singh could not be arrested. He is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

The police are yet to file a chargesheet in the case against Tara and he will be tried for jailbreak separately.

There were 23 accused in the case, including five jail officials. One accused died during the trial, while three others have been declared proclaimed offenders. Two were discharged and one (a Pakistan spy) was convicted in 2009 after he confessed to his crime. He was later deported to Pakistan.

The remaining 14 accused, who were accused of facilitating the escape and harbouring main culprits, were acquitted by the court today.

“The prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubts against all accused, except Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora. Hence, all accused, except Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, stand acquitted. Hawara and Bheora are guilty of offences under Sections 224 and 120B of the IPC. Since they have already undergone sentence more than what is prescribed for these offences, they are already released in the case. Their custody period is treated as their full sentence for the offences,” the court said. Hawara and Bheora were convicted in the Beant Singh assassination case in 2007.

The five jail officials acquitted in the case today were the then Superintendent DS Rana, the then Deputy Superintendent DS Sandhu, Assistant Superintendent PS Rana, Deputy Superintendent VM Gill and Warder Inder Singh.

“With regard to accused jail officials, it can be observed that they did not have an independent will, much less culpable will that can be attributed an intention for the purpose of Section 217 (public servant disobeying law with an intent to save a person from punishment) and 222 (intentional omission to apprehend a person by a public servant) of the IPC.