Chandigarh, January 24
The Chandigarh police today discovered another tunnel in the Burail Jail linking barrack No 4 to 7 where the three escaped alleged assassins of Beant Singh were lodged even as the Chandigarh and Punjab police claimed to have picked up leads to recapture them.
“A 5-foot-deep tunnel to link the two barracks was found by the police after the interrogation of the seven arrested jail officials and security personnel,” sources told The Tribune this evening.
The sources said it seemed the tunnel was to link the two barracks to help the other accused reach Jagtar Singh Hawara’s barrack and escape from the tunnel from where Hawara and others had escaped.
The tunnel was to cover a distance of not more than 15 feet to reach Hawara’s barrack. The arrested persons revealed that a tunnel had been dug by the escapees but when it was noticed, it was allegedly covered by the jail authorities to hush up the matter.
The tunnel had been covered by the authorities, proving wrong the Chandigarh Administration and jail authority’s version that there was no tunnel in the jail which was reported a few months ago. A team of experts went to the jail and rediscovered another tunnel.
Meanwhile, the intelligence agencies have prepared a list of those who might immediately be target of Hawara.
Former union minister H.K. Bhagat, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, K. P. S. Gill, Punjab Police IG Sumedh Singh Saini are likely targets.
The sources said Hawara and others would now try to get Devinder Pal Singh Bhuller released from Tihar Jail in Delhi. Bhuller is awaiting a decision on President’s appeal against his death sentence for attacking Bitta.
The sources in the Punjab police said the Chandigarh and Punjab police had questioned a former militant who had recently met Hawara and others in jail with a fake identity. The jail authorities and the police could not verify the address.
The Director-General of the Punjab Police, Mr A.A.
Siddiqui, told The Tribune that the Punjab police had picked up leads and working on them but refused to divulge the details saying that it would alert the “anti-national elements.”
Mr Siddiqui said special teams have been sent to Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh to find a clue about the escaped terrorists.
