Jalandhar: On September 4, 2019, when the Tarn Taran blast took place, the family of one of the accused – Malkit Singh – was busy whitewashing their house and making other preparations for an impending wedding. Malkit was to get married on September 22, 2019.
Before the planned wedding, though, 28-year-old Malkit was arrested for his alleged involvement in planting that bomb that exploded in a vacant area in Pandori Gola village of Tarn Taran district.
Two years later, Malkit, who was suffering from juvenile diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus-Type 1) and a heart ailment, died in judicial custody at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar on Tuesday (October 5). His cremation was held on Wednesday evening.
Though Malkit kept seeking bail on medical grounds, all his pleas were rejected. Malkit’s family alleged that their son, who was lodged at the Central Jail, Amritsar died because of lack of proper medical treatment.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had registered a case under Sections 304,153 A, 120-B of the IPC, Section 13, 16, 18, 20, 23 of the the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Section 4, 5 of the Explosive Substances Act against Malkit and other accused.
Two people, Vikram Singh of Kadgill village and Harpreet Singh of Bachre village, were killed in the blast. Another accused, Gurjant Singh, lost his eyes in the blast. After the explosion, former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh had stated that the accused were trying to make a bomb in a bottle when the blast took place. Later, the case was handed over to the NIA and it filed a chargesheet against nine persons in March 2020.
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Talking to The Wire, Ravinderjit Singh, Malkit’s elder brother, said that doctors at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh had suggested that Malkit undergo a cardiothoracic surgery. “The jail authorities never listened to our pleas despite the fact that he remained under treatment at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar soon after he was arrested in connection with the Tarn Taran blast case. He was suffering from heart disease, tested positive for COVID-19 and also suffered from tuberculosis for nine months. The jail authorities were aware of his medical condition but they never responded,” he said. .
Ravinderjit said that his family used to buy and provide insulin injections and tablets for his heart to Malkit using their own meagre earnings. “There was no proper medical assistance from the jail administration. The callous attitude of the jail authorities can be gauged from the fact that the doctors at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar had written to the jail staff that they don’t have heart treatment available with them, hence Malkit should be immediately referred to PGI, Chandigarh. When we went to PGI Chandigarh on February 11, 2020 the doctors asked the jail authorities to pay Rs 1.3 lakh and another amount of Rs 50,000 for Malkit’s heart treatment but they never submitted that amount in the hospital. And so he couldn’t be treated.”
Malkit’s mother Sukhraj Kaur was even willing to get her son treated at a private hospital, but he was never granted bail. “Whether it was the NIA court in Mohali, the Punjab and Haryana high court or the Supreme Court, all our pleas went unheard,” Ravinderjit said.
An Amritdhari Sikh, Malkit was a devout ‘sewadar’ at the Golden Temple, Amritsar. His family said that he used to go to the Golden Temple every night, perform sewa and return home early in the morning.
“Even on the night of September 4-5, 2020, when the Tarn Taran blast took place, he was at the Golden Temple. And we were busy with wedding preparations. On September 6, a team of the CIA staff Tarn Taran came to our house, and picked us up, including the woman Malkit was to marry and her family. We were in shock and could not understand what was happening. On September 7, Malkit himself went and appeared before the CIA staff, after which we came home. From there began Malkit’s ordeal. We were not aware of Malkit’s whereabouts, he was tortured beyond words. His feet remained blue for nearly six months and he was not even able to walk on his own,” Ravinderjit alleged.
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Malkit was associated with the Damdami Taksal, a Sikh missionary group based at Mehta chowk in Amritsar, which came to prominence with Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale during Operation Bluestar, before that the 1978 Sikh-Nirankari clashes, the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, Khalistan movement and the dark period of militancy in Punjab.
His brother claimed that it was because of Malkit’s background in the Damdami Taksal that he was arrested in the Tarn Taran blast case. “The NIA opposed my brother’s bail application, claiming that he was radicalised and pro-Khalistan. He didn’t even own a mobile phone. His life was Sikhism and sewa. But we were told that he was part of a Pakistan-based terrorist group, which planned terrorist activities. Suddenly, our entire family was being treated like terrorists,” he said.
Advocate Jaspal Singh Manjhpur, Malkit’s lawyer, said that he was a Sikh preacher. “All these allegations that he was pro-Khalistan are baseless. There was no such evidence at all,” he said.
Ravinderjit said that he has decided to fight a legal battle against the jail authorities for denying Malkit the right treatment, even if it means approaching the Supreme Court. “With my brother’s death not just ours but the hopes of his fiancé are also dashed forever. She stood by him like a rock. Even her family used to go to meet Malkit in jail because they knew his credentials. We would have got him married. Now, we feel helpless.”
