German court convicts 3 militants for conspiring to kill dera head in Vienna

A german court has convicted three militants from Punjab for hatching a conspiracy to kill Baba Gurinder Singh — head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas Dera — on July 28, 2010 in Vienna.

Sources in the police said the court had a few days ago sentenced Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga (Jalandhar) and Bhupinder Singh alias Bhinda (Hoshiarpur district) to three-year imprisonment. While court has suspended the sentence of accused Mandeep Singh, the fourth accused, Amarjit Singh, has been let off.

In May, 2012, the German authorities had framed charges against the four millitants for conspiring to kill Gurinder Singh. The plot, however, was foiled by heavy police presence. The Vienna police had detained the four suspects when they were trying to enter into the hall as private security guards, where Gurinder Singh had gone to deliver a lecture.

A team of German officials had come to Punjab in February last year to gather information about the four men from state intelligence agencies. They had told Indian agencies that Bagga and Bhinda were associated with Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and were in constant touch with its chief, Ranjit Singh Neeta — currently based in Pakistan.

Bhinda and Bagga had issued instructions to their conduits in Vienna to kill the dera head during his visit to Austria, the German authorities had said. While Bagga and Bhinda were reportedly very close to the KZF chief, Neeta instructed them about activities to be carried out in Austria with the help of other associates in Vienna.

In the course of the investigation, the Vienna police had released three suspects and retained one. At that time, the Union government had send a team of police officers from Punjab and the Intelligence Bureau to Germany for further interrogation of Bagga and Bhinda.

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