'Jagtar Singh Tara doesn't regret killing Beant Singh': Lawyer

Jagtar Singh Tara does not regret killing former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, his lawyer Simarjeet Singh said on Saturday.

Simarjeet told ANI, "Tara told the court that he does not regret killing Beant Singh and also said that he has been fighting the battle of Sikhs' freedom against the Punjab government and will continue to do so."

The lawyer added Tara defended himself by saying, "If by killing a cruel person I can save thousands of innocent people then it is not wrong."

Amidst this, pro-Khalistan slogans were raised by Tara's supporters.

A court here on Friday held Tara guilty of assassinating Singh in a bomb explosion that left 17 persons dead.

The court has fixed Saturday to pronounce the quantum of sentence in the case. The verdict is scheduled to be announced after 2 p.m.

Tara had earlier confessed to the court three times that he had not regret killing the former Punjab Chief Minister.

In his confession, he has also said that Shaheed Udham Singh, who assassinated Lieutenant Governor of Punjab Michael O'Dwyer in 1919, was his inspiration to kill the Congress leader.

On August 31, 1995, Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Punjab and Haryana Secretariat. Punjab Police official Dilawar Singh acted as a human bomb in that attack.