Murder convict walks free after 24 yrs

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 18

Sikh prisoner Subeg Singh, who was granted remission by the Centre in the wake of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak, was released from the Central Jail in Patiala on Monday evening.

Subeg — who was undergoing life imprisonment with co-convict Bhai Nand Singh — has been released after 24 years. He was received by his family members and Bhai Nand Singh who was released last Thursday on the same grounds.

Both were convicted for a murder case in 1995 and were undergoing life imprisonment. Teary-eyed Subeg Singh, while talking to mediapersons after his release, said, “I can’t describe my feelings in words. I think I have got a second birth.” “I will take up farming and spend time with my family which I have not been able to for the last 24 years. In 2008, I lost my wife in a road accident,” he said. Subheg Singh, a resident of Suhron village near Kheri Gandian in Patiala district, had been in jail since 1995 for killing a man named Bachan Ram.

In 2004, Jagtar Singh Hawara and two other prisoners, who were serving life imprisonment in Burail Jail, managed to escape. Nand and Subeg, who were serving life imprisonment in the same jail, were implicated in the jailbreak. In 2014, all accused in the case were acquitted. However, the government did not release both despite completion of minimum term for life imprisonment.

Jail Superintendent Bhupinderjeet Singh said, “We received bail bonds for his release on Monday.”