Amritsar – Prof. Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, Life-term 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, he was medically examined by a five-member board of doctors set up by the jail authorities. On being found unfit to stay in prison, he was referred to the psychiatry ward of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. At Guru Nanak Dev Hospital 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.
Prof. Bhullar’s wife Navneet Kaur had sought his shifting citing the convict’s poor health. Navneet Kaur, who had migrated to Canada with her in-laws in 1994, has her parental house at Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar. Navneet Kaur, met Prof Bhullar at Guru Nanak dev Hospital on June 12, 2015 in Amritsar, India.
Members of the Sangarsh Committee, comprising various Sikh leaders, had previously met Bhullar in jail and reported he appeared fine. Shifted here on a request by his family, Prof Bhullar looked underweight and hardly talked or looked towards the cameras.
Process for parole soon
As the Punjab government had shown interest in bringing Bhullar back to Punjab, sources claimed that procedures will soon start to grant him parole. Sources claimed that his family and his supporters will soon file an application to grant parole to Prof. Bhullar and it is highly certain that Punjab government grants it very soon.
Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh, who met Bhullar in the central jail, said an application would be filed soon to seek parole for him.
Bhai Bittu said Bhullar looked calm and talked very less during his meeting in the jail.
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, Prof. 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.