Ignoring intelligence inputs on the possibility of law and order situation turning volatile in Punjab after transferring militants to State’s jails, the Punjab police on Friday brought Khalistani militant Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar to Amritsar Central Jail.
The 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict, Bhullar, was shifted from Delhi’s Tihar Jail to Amritsar after being brought by road amidst tight police security.
Owing to his “unstable” mental condition and ill-health, Bhullar has been admitted to Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction Centre, Amirtsar, which is being run under the direct supervision of local Government Medical College.
Before being brought to Punjab, Bhullar first underwent medical check-up at Swami Dayanand Hospital in Delhi’s Shahdara city on Thursday.
A cavalcade of vehicles, including ambulances, reached the Amritsar Central Jail at 1.30 pm. Bhullar, who was in the ambulance, was escorted by vehicles of the Delhi and Punjab Police.
On reaching Amritsar Central Jail, he was immediately referred to Government Guru Nanak Dev Hospital to undergo fresh medical examination besides check-up at the hospitals’ psychiatric ward, Amritsar DCP Parmpal Singh 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.
All necessary arrangements in the jail and civil hospital were finalised for Bhullar. He will be lodged in a barrack that would be cordoned off by special jail staff as assistant superintendent of jail has been given responsibility to oversee the arrangements, the DCP said.
It has been learnt that certain area around a barrack has been cordoned off. Bhullar will share his barrack with another inmate, besides four security guards who would be assigned duties on rotational basis.
Bhullar is reportedly suffering from schizophrenia and has a disturbed state of mind.
The psychiatrist, Dr GA Garg, who examined Bhullar, has said that the latter is affected by hypertension and extreme melancholy, including that his discharge will depend upon the outcome of his remedy.
“He is affected by hypertension and extreme melancholy. I have completed an in depth examination. We will coordinate with different departments as properly, like the drugs and cardiology departments. We will do our greatest for him,” said Dr Garg.
He said: “Discharge will depend upon the outcome of remedy. It can take two weeks to four weeks. He is telling his identify and speaking, however, his power degree is actually low. We will attempt to assist him to return out of the melancholy. Till the time of remedy, he will be right here.”
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.