Dilawar Singh Babbar (1970-1995) or Dilawar Singh Jai Singh Wala was a Punjab Police officer and member of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) who killed former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh on 31 August 1995 by acting as a suicide bomber at the Secretariat Complex, Chandigarh .
Wiki/Biography
Dilawar Singh was born on Tuesday, 18 August 1970 (age 25 years; at time of death) in his mother’s village Panjgrain, Punjab. His zodiac sign is Leo. Dilawar Singh’s father moved from his native village, Jai Singh Wala, to Patiala, where Dilawar grew up at street no. 12 in Guru Nanak Nagar. There, he met and befriended Balwant Singh Rajoana, Lakhwinder Singh Lakha, and Gurmeet Singh, all of whom were later accused of Beant Singh’s murder. While Lakha lived at the junction of roads 9 and 13, Gurmeet Singh lived at road no. 14. After completing his formal education, Dilawar Singh started his career as a Punjab Police officer, along with Balwant Singh Rajoana.
Picture of Balwant Singh Rajoana and Dilawar Singh Babbar
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 9″
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Dilawar Singh Babbar’s father, Harnek Singh, works as a Senior Assistant in the Youth Welfare Department of Punjabi University, Patiala. His mother’s name is Surjit Kaur. Dilawar has two brothers, Chamkaur Singh and Harvinder Singh. Chamkaur Singh works as a senior financial analyst and revenue officer in the Department of Youth Services, Government of India.
Dilawar Singh Babbar’s father
SGPC officials awarded Siropa to Dilawar Singh’s mother to honor her in her son’s memory
SGPC officers awarded Siropa to Dilawar Singh’s brother, Chamkaur Singh
Wife & Children
He is not married.
Rebellion in Punjab
Beant Singh was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Punjab in 1992 after Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. At that time, in the violence-torn Punjab, heavily armed Sikh separatists had been fighting for an independent homeland of Khalistan for almost 12 years. One of the separatist organizations called Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) was joined by Dilawar Singh during his service in the Punjab Police. From 9 June 1993 to 18 September 1994, he served as a Special Operations Officer in Fatehgarh Sahib district. Working as a Special Operations Officer, he witnessed government-sanctioned counter-terrorism operations in which the Punjab Police carried out numerous extrajudicial killings and illegal detentions of Sikh youth. By November 1994, the Punjab government had sacked several Special Operations Officers across the state, including Dilawar Singh. With this dismissal, Dilawar Singh realized that the SPO had been employed by the government only to kill innocent Sikh youths in the name of counter-terrorism operations. This event enraged Dilawar, who then volunteered to kill Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. Although Beant Singh’s success in minimizing violence in Punjab rekindled the overall respect for Sikhs in the country that had been lost after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, he was accused of secretly approving fake encounter killings, kidnappings, and cremations during the insurgency in Punjab as the government tried to get rid of Khalistani militants. . Thereafter, Dilawar rented a one-room accommodation in an isolated place in Ratoli Village, Rajgarh Tehsil, Sirmour district, around May or June 1995, where he held a meeting with other BKI conspirators regarding the murder.
Assassination of Beant Singh
On August 31, 1995, Dilawar Singh, along with backup bomber Balwant Singh Rajoana, arrived at the secretariat complex, Chandigarh, in a freshly painted white Ambassador with a Delhi license plate. Dilawar Singh was wearing a Punjab Police uniform under which 1.5 kg of explosives in a bandolier-shaped belt was tied around his waist. After a while when Balwant left, Dilawar scribbled a stanza in Gurmukhi script on a piece of paper that read,
Je mein shaheedan di yaad wich geet na gaaye, teh ohna diyan ruhan Kuralun gyan”(If I don’t recite the poem in memory of the martyrs, their souls will be tormented).
At 5.10pm, three White Ambassadors stopped near the VIP lobby at the secretariat complex to pick up the CM. Just as Beant Singh was about to step into the car, Dilawar walked towards his bulletproof car and pressed the bomb button. Along with Beant Singh, the blast claimed the lives of 17 others including 3 Indian commandos and Beant Singh’s close associate Ranjodh Singh Mann. Later, the BKI claimed responsibility for Beant Singh’s death and attributed a criminal conspiracy rooted in wanton atrocities against innocent Sikhs during Beant Singh’s tenure as CM.
Photograph of Secretariat Complex, Chandigarh, clicked on 31 August 1995 after suicide bomber Dilawar Singh Babbar killed CM Beant Singh
After the Murder
An abandoned Ambassador car with a Delhi number found by the Chandigarh police in September 1995 led to the arrest of the first convict Lakhwinder Singh. By February 1996, the police found the other conspirators, Gurmeet Singh, Naseeb Singh, Navjot Singh, Jagtar Singh Tara, Shamsher Singh, Jagtar Singh Hawara, Balwant Singh Rajoana, and Paramjit Singh Bheora. On 25 December 1997, Balwant Singh Rajoana confessed his involvement in Beant Singh’s murder in the temporary courtroom of Burail Jail, Chandigarh. Before being silenced, he raised pro-Khalistan slogans,
Khalistan zindabad, Bhai Dilawar Singh zindabad!”
His confession shocked prison authorities and journalists who later asked Rajoana, “Why would someone at such a time want to give up his life?” to which Rajoana replied,
Tusi key jano dosti kinj nebhai jandi hai.”(How do you know how to live friendship?)
Apparently, Dilawar and Balwant had tossed a coin to decide who would be the suicide bomber. So when Dilawar won the death toss and agreed to forfeit his life, he asked Balwant Singh to confess his hand in the crime when the time came.
Another Prisoner in the Beant Singh Murder
Balwant Singh Rajoana (Backup Bomber)
On 25 December 1997, Balwant Singh Rajoana, a former Punjab Police constable, confessed his involvement in Beant Singh’s murder in a makeshift courtroom in Burail Jail, Chandigarh. A special CBI court awarded the death sentence to Rajoana on 1 August 2007. Rajoana was incarcerated in the Patiala Central Jail when a Chandigarh court issued a death warrant to the Patiala jail authorities for his execution, scheduled for 31 March 2012. Rajoana’s execution, to be carried out in the Patiala Central Jail , was arrested after Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal met Pratibha Patil seeking clemency for Rajoana. Later, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on the grounds that he had been imprisoned for almost 26 years.
Balwant Singh Rajoana
Jagtar Singh Hawara (The Mastermind)
Hawara is thought to be the mastermind behind the plan to kill Beant Singh. A BKI member, Hawara arranged the explosives and finances to buy the Ambassador’s car that was used in the assassination. In January 2004, he escaped, along with Tara and each other, from Burail jail after digging a 110-foot tunnel from inside the high-security jail in Chandigarh. However, he was arrested again in 2005 in Delhi. Later, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Jagtar Singh Hawara
Jagtar Singh Tara (The Mastermind)
Tara works as a mechanic and taxi driver in Delhi. An active member of the BKI, Tara helped Hawara buy the car and brought it to Chandigarh, where he repainted it to enter the secretariat complex. Tara was arrested in September 1995 in Delhi. However, he escaped with Hawara during the trial of the case in 2004 and was on the run for 11 years. He was later arrested in Thailand in 2015. In 2018, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Jagtar Singh Tara in Thailand
Others
Lakhwinder Singh is a constable of the Punjab Armed Police who is posted in the official vehicle wing of the secretariat. Gurmeet Singh is a diploma holder in engineering, who works for the Chandigarh service center of a consumer electronics company. Shamsher Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, and Gurmeet Singh were sentenced to life imprisonment by the RK Sondhi court in the temporary courtroom of Burail Jail. Meanwhile, Naseeb Singh was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which he had already served during the trial for over 11 years. The seventh accused Navjot Singh was acquitted by a special court.
Address
House No. 23, Jalan No. 12, Guru Nanak Nagar, Patiala, Punjab, India.
Facts/Trivia
- During the hearing before District and Sessions Judge Amar Dutt, Balwant Singh Rajoana, recalling Dilawar, said,
It is nothing but divine intervention. As soon as Bhai Dilawar Singh approached the Chief Minister, everyone around went blind for a moment. That is the reason why there are no eyewitnesses.”
- Dilawar Singh once again made headlines on June 15, 2022, when the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) installed his portrait at the Central Sikh Museum inside the Golden Temple complex. The installation of the portrait sparked controversy when Anti-Terrorist Front of India (ATFI) President Viresh Shandilya said it was an indication of the return of terrorism in Punjab and urged chief minister Bhagwant Mann to stop the installation. However during the coronation ceremony, SGPC President praised Dilawar Singh saying,
Shaheed Bhai Dilawar Singh has put an end to the atrocities and human rights violations committed against the Sikhs at that time. The decision to sacrifice oneself is not possible without Guru’s blessing, and whenever an atrocity is committed against the Qaum (community/nation), Sikhs always create history by making sacrifices.”
- When the police searched Dilawar Singh’s house on September 5, 1995, they found a booklet about Shaheed Bhagat Singh. The final title page of the book features a pen sketch, which looks like a belt bomb with an explosive device.
- On 23 March 2012, the title of ‘National Martyr’ was conferred on Dilawar Singh Babbar by the Akal Takht, the supreme temporary seat of the Khalsa. Instead, Rajoana was honored with the title “Living Martyr.”
- Before his death, Dilawar Singh handed over his photograph to Balwant Singh with a scribble on the back that read,
Sada tah ek duniya ander jogi wala fera hai, Naa hi eh jagg tera sajna, na hi eh jag mera hai, Es sohni nu doban lyi tah kacha ghara bathera hai.”
(My visit to this world is like that of a saint, This world is not yours, nor mine, To drown this ‘Sohni’, this raw pot is enough.)
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
