The 1993 Delhi bomb blast case convict Prof. Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar was on Friday shifted to Amritsar Central Jail from Delhi’s Tihar Jail amidst tight police security.
“He went in an ambulance at around 4 a.m. and was escorted by teams of armed Delhi police,” a senior Tihar jail official said, adding he was taken by road to Amritsar.
Bhullar first underwent thorough medical check-up at Swami Dayanand Hospital in Shahdara on Thursday.
Amritsar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Parmpal confirmed the arrival of Bhullar.
On reaching Amritsar Central Jail, he was immediately referred to the Government Guru Nanak Dev Hospital to undergo fresh medical examination besides check up at the hospital’s psychiatric ward, the DCP said, adding that by evening he could be taken to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.
All formalities regarding his transfer were completed after Delhi government approved the case and the Punjab government agreed to lodge Bhullar in Amritsar prison.
Bhullar’s wife Navneet Kaur had sought his shifting citing the convict’s poor health. Navneet Kaur, who had migrated to Canada with her in-laws in 1994, has her parental house at Ranjiv Avenue in Amritsar.
He is scheduled to be lodged in a barrack that would be cordoned off by special jail staff as assistant superintendent of jail has been given the responsibility to oversee the arrangements, the DCP said.
Bhullar is said to be quite unwell, both physically and mentally. He is reportedly suffering from schizophrenia.
Behind bars for the past two decades following his conviction in the 1993 Delhi bomb blast case, Bhullar is undergoing life imprisonment after the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence. Bhullar was sentenced to death by a designated TADA court on August 25, 2001.
The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had cleared the request for Bhullar’s transfer recently. — PTI
The 1993 Delhi bomb blast case convict is said to be suffering from schizophrenia