Targeted killings: Johal has to face law, UK told

New Delhi, June 12

British citizen Jagtar Singh Johal, accused of conspiring for targeted killings of RSS leaders in Punjab, will have to face the law in India, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju is learnt to have informed his UK counterpart Baroness Williams.

Conveying this to Williams during an hour-long meeting on Monday, Rijiju said Johal, suspected to be one of the conspirators in carrying out targeted killings of seven RSS, Shiv Sena and Dera Sacha Sauda leaders between January 2016 and October 2017, would have to face the law in India for his alleged role in criminal incidents.

India also made it clear that Johal had all legal avenues available to him and his lawyers were free to pursue his case through India’s independent judicial system, said a senior official in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The National Investigation Agency, in a chargesheet filed in a Mohali court on May 4, claimed that Johal was involved in funding the conspiracy to kill RSS leader Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana last October. At present, Johal is lodged in a Punjab jail with various other cases against him at different stages of trial.

Rijiju said regular consular access was being provided to diplomats of the British High Commission to meet Johal and so far 11 consular visits had been conducted. — TNS