Gurmeet will be extradited from Thailand: Govt

Government tonight said Sikh terrorist Gurmeet Singh who was convicted for life for his involvement in assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, and has been arrested by Thai police, will be extradited from Thailand.
"Those committing heinous crimes in India will be pursued wherever they may be. Will have Jagtar Singh (Tara) extradited from Thailand," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.
Gurmeet Singh - alias Jagtar "Tara" Singh - was arrested in the eastern province of Chon Buri yesterday after raiding a house owned by a Pakistani national, Thai National police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri said in Bangkok.

The terrorist was convicted for life for his involvement in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and 17 others in 1995.
A 37-year-old former member of the Babbar Khalsa International Sikh separatist group, Singh had entered Thailand in October. He escaped from a high-security prison in 2004 in Chandigarh before being convicted for life in 2007.
A team of provincial police and soldiers raided a house in Bang Lamung district and arrested Singh, one of six Sikh militants convicted for the 1995 blast, that also killed 17 others outside a government complex in Chandigarh.

Last week, the national police chief had announced that a special unit would be set up to target transnational criminal gangs operating in Thailand or using the country as a shelter.

Pol Maj Gen Nitipong Niamnoi, head of Chon Buri police, said Indian authorities had sought cooperation from Thailand, to help apprehend the suspect.
The Indian government had been in touch with Thai authorities to nab Singh, who had been hiding in Thailand for months and probably under another identity.