Govt rejects militant Khera’s parole plea

Jaswinder Singh Baidwan

Akhran da mureed
Staff member
The parole application of former militant Gurdeep Singh Khera has been rejected.
It has been learnt that the rural police had submitted a negative report fearing that he may attempt to flee and could cause a law and order problem if parole was granted.
The final authority on granting parole, Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat, confirmed that the parole plea of Khera has been rejected as per the feedback received from the Office of Senior Superintendent of Police (Rural).
SSP (Rural) Jasdeep Singh said that the reason cited by Khera for parole was not convincing.
Khera had mentioned in his application that he intends to get his house repaired and therefore, needs to avail parole.
“As per precedent, our team visited his native place to enquire about his intentions and did not get positive feedback. The reason he mentioned — house repair — too was found to be frivolous. All these reasons didn’t justify his parole plea. Accordingly, the report was submitted to the DC’s office to take a final call,” he said.
Khera (55), a native of Jallupur Khera village in Amritsar, was booked under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA) and later sentenced to life imprisonment in two cases registered in 1996 in New Delhi and Karnataka.
He was the second former terrorist to be brought to Amritsar Central Jail on June 25 after 1993 Delhi blasts convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar. Khera was arrested on December 6, 1990. He was awarded life term under Sections 3 and 6 of the TADA by a court in Bider on December 15, 1991.
He has spent more than 24 years in jail. Khera has never been released from jail, except for a day to attend a family wedding around eight years ago.
Insiders said that the Punjab Government had facilitated the transfer of Bhullar and Khera to Amritsar jail on humanitarian grounds so that they could stay close to their families and get parole when required. But the Dinanagar terror attack and the alarming feedback of intelligence agencies about Pakistan’s attempt to launch its “K2” (Kashmir-Khalistan) agenda might have made the authorities think again.
 
Top