Badal proposal for premature release of 13 convicts would be discussed: Rajnath

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said he would talk to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal over the premature release of 13 Sikh convicts from various states and added that any proposal in this regard would be discussed.

"As far as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is concerned, he is a very senior leader and we will talk to him if necessary. We will discuss if we will get any proposal from him over the premature release of the 13 convicts," said Singh.

Meanwhile, SAD general secretary Harcharan Bains said it was one of his party's primary decisions to consider the release of Sikh prisoners, who are eligible for release on humanitarian grounds, in other states.

"One of the main decisions of the SAD was to start 'Lok Lehar' - a mass movement against social evil that covers a huge agenda. It will include extending the reach to the remote villages. The other decision was to consider Sikh prisoners, who are in other states, and are eligible to get release on humanitarian grounds," said Bains.

Badal has written letters to his counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat seeking premature release of 13 terrorists convicted in various cases, including former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassin Jagtar Singh Tara.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Thai authorities, acting on a tip-off from the Punjab Police, arrested Tara from the house of a member of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

Tara is accused of planning the suicide attack on Beant Singh in 1995 in Chandigarh, an act of terror that resulted in the death of 18 people.

The Khalistan Tiger Force commander and his accomplices Paramjit Singh Bheora, Jagtar Singh Hawara and Dev Singh were arrested after the incident but escaped from the high security Burail Jail in Chandigarh.

According to reports, Tara was living in Thailand under a Pakistani passport.