Bhullar shifted to Amritsar from Delhi amid high security

Tribune News Service
Amritsar, June 12

Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a high-profile convict in the 1993 Delhi bomb blast case, was today shifted to high-security Amritsar Central Jail here from Delhi’s Tihar Jail amid tight police security. He was brought by road from the National Capital in an ambulance, escorted by teams of armed Delhi Police personnel.

On reaching Amritsar Central Jail, Bhullar was immediately referred to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, where he was examined by a team of psychiatrists led by Dr PD Garg. After examining him, the team of doctors said Bhullar has been suffering from acute depression. Later, he was admitted to the psychiatry ward of Swami Vivekananda De-addiction and Treatment Centre of the hospital. He has been allotted a separate room on the first floor of the Centre.

Centre head Dr PD Garg said Bhullar would be kept in the hospital for at least two weeks and a medical board is being constituted to examine his condition on daily basis. Depending upon his health condition, his stay at the hospital could be extended, he added.

Earlier, a cavalcade of vehicles, including ambulances, reached the Central Jail at 1.30 pm.  Bhullar, who was in the ambulance, was escorted by vehicles of the Delhi and Punjab Police.

Members of the Sangarsh Committee, comprising radical Sikh leaders, had previously met Bhullar in jail and reported he appeared fine. His wife is expected to reach Amritsar by this evening.

In a sudden shift of stand towards Sikh militants lodged in various jails across the country, the Punjab Government processed the cases for transferring eight more such persons to various jails in the state, besides Devinder Singh Bhullar. Once transferred to the jails in Punjab, these persons may be released on parole, subject to security clearances.

Behind bars for the past two decades following his conviction in the case, Bhullar is undergoing life imprisonment after the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence. He was sentenced to death by a designated TADA court on August 25, 2001.

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had cleared the request for Bhullar’s transfer recently.