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The human bomb that never was

The human bomb threat to former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral when he was campaigning for the Lok Sabha election in Jalandhar has turned out to be a hoax.

Last week, the Punjab police arrested 32-year-old Avtar Singh and his 17-year-old accomplice Raj Kumar, the real culprits behind the threat. Singh has confessed to the crime -- namely, dashing off a letter to the police in January, saying his estranged wife and her mother were conspiring to assassinate Gujral by a human bomb.

The 'revelations', made under the name of Jasbir Singh who claimed to be the All India Sikh Students Federation president, had seen tense security officials launching a statewide womanhunt for a suicide-assassin that never was.

The letter was Singh's way of getting back at his wife and her paramour Sital Singh.

District Police Economic Offences Wing Inspector Daljit Singh, who was falsely implicated in the incident, was found innocent after the investigation, conducted by Deputy Superintendent of Police (rural) Rajinder Singh.

The probe revealed that Avtar Singh got Raj Kumar to write the letter. He, however, signed it himself, which led to his undoing.

UNI