Witness Gurpreet Singh stated that he passed his B.E. examination from Jaswant Rai Chauhan College in Nagpur. In 1989-90, he said, he was staying in the hostel and had thereafter shifted to a rented accommodation with friends - Tejinder Singh, Harbir Singh and Amarbir Singh. Gurpreet said he knew Balwant Singh, the accused who was present in the court today, as he (Balwant) was Tejinder's friend. He said Balwant and Dilawar Singh (believed to be the human bomb) has come to Nagpur for the first time in 1993 and stayed with him. The witness also identified Dilawar's photo today.

Gurpreet Singh added that on September 1, 1995, Balwant had told Tejinder telephonically that Dilawar had died in an explosion which killed former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. He added that on September 2, Balwant came to Nagpur and told them that with the help of some friends from the Babbar Khalsa and at the instance of Mehr Singh and Randhawa Singh, he and Dilawar had assassinated Beant Singh.

Balwant told them that they had worn belts containing explosives. Dilawar had gone to the secretariat in a White Ambassador while Balwant had followed him. They had then waited for the CM. Balwant also told them that he was at a distance of about 50 yards when the blast occurred. He said that Jagtar Singh Hawara had procured the White Ambassador for them.

The witness added that they apprehended trouble after they heard Balwant's narrative. So they got him accommodation in a hotel where he entered his name as Sandeep Sharma. The witness was later cross examined by Balwant and Hawara.

1 convicted for carrying knife
UT Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate H.S. Madaan today convicted a city resident for carrying arms without possessing a valid licence for the same.

Convicting Rakesh Kumar under Section 25 of the Arms Act, 1959, the Magistrate sentenced him to imprisonment for a period already undergone in jail by him (October 4, 1998, till today).

The case against Rakesh was registered here on October 4 by the city police. He was nabbed from S.D. Market, Bapu Dham area when ASI Gurmail Singh, along with Head Constable Alok Singh and Constable Om Parkash were patrolling that area. They saw the accused coming. But he tried to run away when he saw the police. A was found carrying a 13 inch kamanidar knife for which he was, however, not holding any valid licence.