Khalistani militant pleads for mercy killing

CHANDIGARH: Jagtar Singh Tara, accused in the Beant Singh assassination case, has moved an application in the ongoing trial stating that he was physically unfit, and sought permission for euthanasia or mercy killing. In a letter submitted before the trial court during the hearing of the case, Tara said he has severe pain in the back which has made his life "miserable". The matter will come up for hearing on April 6 now. Lodged in Chandigarh's Burail Jail, Tara is among the main accused of assassinating the then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in a bomb blast outside the Punjab secretariat on August 31, 1995. Given his allegiance to the Babbar Khalsa International, Tara, 42, had purportedly confessed to his role in the assassination, in a court submission last year.