In a significant development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed the bail plea of Harbhinder Singh and Navpreet Singh, accused in the murder case of Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a recipient of the Shaurya Chakra, and members of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). The court rejected their bail application, stating that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has substantial evidence against the petitioners.
Harbhinder and Navpreet had filed an appeal for bail in the Punjab and Haryana High Court after their bail plea was rejected by the Special NIA Court in Mohali in April. The plea argued that there was insufficient evidence against them based on the statement of co-accused Indrajit Singh. After hearing all parties involved, the High Court acknowledged that, according to the material available with the NIA, the appellants were propagating the ideology of Khalistan along with other co-accused. It was during this operation that they were involved in the murder of Comrade Balwinder Singh Sandhu.
Balwinder Singh, a Shaurya Chakra awardee, was brutally murdered in his residence in Bhikhiwind in October 2020. The case was initially registered at the Bhikhiwind Police Station and later transferred to the NIA. The NIA investigation revealed that Navpreet Singh and Harbhinder Singh were close associates of the main accused, Indrajit Singh. Both were actively involved in planning and executing the assassination plot. This underscores the availability of sufficient evidence against the lawyers opposing the primary accusations, suggesting they conspired with the main accused, Indrajit Singh, to commit the murder of Balwinder Singh Sandhu.
