We could not find Hawara Continues…

Tara had signed the delivery papers disguising himself as Basant Singh. He had first driven it to Patiala and then to Chandigarh where it was got painted white, giving it the appearance of an official vehicle. On the fateful day, at about 3pm, Tara had driven the suicide bomber Dilawar

Singh, a dismissed Special Police Officer into the Punjab & Haryana Secretariat Complex. Dilawar was dressed in police uniform, with 1.5 kg of RDX tied to his waist in a bandolier shaped belt. Tara left the ‘human bomb’ in the car not far from the spot where the CM and 17 others were later killed. After Tara’s departure Dilawar Singh was joined by Balwant Singh Rajoana, a serving Police Constable. Rajoana was a stand by suicide bomber. So confident were the conspirators of the eventual success of their plan that they did not even bother to affix a fake number plate to the car.

Tara further disclosed that the man sitting with him in the travel agency office at the time of his arrest was in no way connected with the crime. But his co-conspirator, namely Jagtar Singh Hawara of the Babbar Khalsa could be in Nandgram, near Ghaziabad (U.P.). Immediately, the assistance of the Special Cell of the Delhi Police was taken and a nightlong search operation launched. I was so fatigued by then that I slept in one of the flats in Nandgram despite the melee of the operation underway which was now headed by Satish Jha. Unfortunately, we could not find Hawara as he had left much before our arrival. We handed over Jagtar Singh Tara to the Branch formally investigating the case. He was then formally arrested.

Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of eight other accused including Hawara and Rajoana. In all, thirteen accused were named in the CBI charge sheet, three of whom namely Wadhawa Singh, Mahal Singh and Jagroop Singh are still in hiding in Pakistan. Dilawar Singh, the suicide bomber, had died at the spot.

To be continued…