Chandigarh, May 31 (IANS) All India Anti-Terrorist Front chairman M.S. Bitta Tuesday condemned Punjab’s ruling Akali Dal and the Congress state unit for demanding clemency for Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, a Khalistani militant facing the gallows.
Bhullar, whose mercy petition was rejected by President Pratibha Patil May 26, is a Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist. He was sentenced to death for a 1993 car bomb attack that killed 12 people and injured 29, including then Indian Youth Congress chief Bitta.
‘I am feeling very disturbed over this attitude of political parties. I have been mentally tortured by the Congress and central intelligence agencies for the last 18 years. I have completely failed to tackle the political terrorism in the country,’ Bitta told reporters here Tuesday.
Both the Akali Dal and the Congress in Punjab sought the commuting of Bhullar”s death sentence to life term.
‘If clemency is granted to Bhullar, then the trend will follow in other cases (such as) parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Mumbai attack accused Kasab. I am feeling very bad and I do not want to be alive any more,’ said Bitta.
Convicted in 2001, Bhullar’s mercy petition was pending with the president since January 2003.
Bhullar was the mastermind of a car bomb attack on Bitta Sep 11, 1993.
Bhullar was deported to India from Germany in 1995 and had been lodged in the Tihar Jail here.
He was sentenced to death Aug 25, 2001 and the Supreme Court dismissed his special leave petition Dec 27, 2006.
