Four Leicester-based Sikhs held for hatching 'Rajiv Gandhi murder plot'

Ranuana'sfollowers burning Indian flag"The excitement we usually have in this part of the world is during the fox-hunts. This trial is certainly providing gripping early season drama, "said a laconic observer at the Leicester magistrate's court. He was alluding to the celebrated fox-hunts - the Belvoir, Cotteemore and the Quorn - in Leicestershire in England's East Midlands."The trial" that has sought to set the Soar river on fire is the "Rajiv Gandhi murder plot" allegedly hatched by four Leicester-based Sikhs to assassinate the Indian prime minister when he made his first official visit to the UK last October.The beguiling case to some extent resembled the notorious Frank Camper affair in the US when Canada and US-based Sikhs approached the head of the Alabama mercenary camp for assistance and training to assassinate the Indian prime minister. A Sikh computer engineer, Gurpartap Singh Birk, was sentenced to seven years in prison in New York last fortnight for plotting to overthrow the Indian Government.Birk had violated American Law in trying to obtain explosives. The Leicester Sikhs allegedly attempted to hire IRA gunmen to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi in Britain. The parallels in both cases were characterised by the odd mixture of overheated motivation and infelicitous maldroitness. The four alleged plotters - of which one was later released - were all connected to the country's hosiery industry. They are:Jarnail Singh Ranuana, 46: Originally from Sarhala Ranua village in Jalandhar district. Ranuana is the vice-president of the Guru Nanak gurudwara in Leicester. He calls himself a company director and first gained local notoriety for burning the Indian national flag in September 1984. He is allegedly the brain behind the plot. Ranuana is charged with conspiracy to murder, soliciting murder, possession of drugs and not possessing fire-arms certificates. Parmatma Singh Marwaha, 44: The garment factory owner of Kedleston Road, Leicester, is the son of Bakshi Singh of Jagatpur, Jalandhar district. He is charged with conspiracy to murder and soliciting murder.Sukhvinder Singh Gill, 30: A factory dyer, he is the son of Kuldip Singh from Shankar, Jalandhar district. Gill is accused of conspiracy to murder and soliciting murder.Harminder Singh Rai, 31: Son of Onkar Singh Rai from Bhanopi village in Hoshiarpur, Rai was initially charged with conspiracy to murder but was later released and the prosecution indicated it would not proceed against him.Harminder Singh Rai after releaseThe evolution of this extraordinary affair so far has been dramatic. From a shadow conspiracy, it has now become a complex courtroom drama. It was on September 24 last year that two undercover police officers posing as IRA gunmen met Jarnail Singh Ranuana at Leicester's elegant Post House Hotel.The meeting was set up after police had received a tip-off from a source called 'John' that a plot was being hatched in Leicester against the Indian prime minister. In fact India Today learnt that Indian consulate officials in nearby Birmingham had drawn up a list of 35 potential "trouble-makers" as far back as June 1985. The names of three out of the four plotters figured in this list which was sent to Delhi and local police officials were also informed.According to Peter Crane, prosecuting for the director of public prosecutions, Ranuana had made it clear to the officers that he wished to have Rajiv Gandhi killed during his forthcoming visit. The two undercover policemen were identified only as "Tom B" and "Ian S" and they had secretly tape-recorded the meetings. Detective constable "Tom B" told Ranuana that he had been responsible for killing the opposition spokesman on northern Ireland, Airey Neave, in 1979. Neave was killed when a bomb exploded in his car as he left the House of Commons car park, "Tom B" then stated that for assassinating the Indian prime minister, a payment of Pound 60,000 would have to be made. Ranuana agreed to the sum, dismissing it as "peanuts" and added that he would pay an extra pound 10,000 from his own pocket for the killing. He also reportedly stated that the money was being collected from the Sikh community in Britain and elsewhere.On October 2, at the Four Seasons Hotel at Narborough, Leicester, Ranuana gave a gun and 17 cartridges to "Tom B" who this time attempted to raise the price for the killing to pound 100,000. He was given a slip for pound 95,000 to be drawn on an account in the name of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) but it transpired that only pound 40,000 was in the account. According to Peter Crane, Ranuana and Sukhvinder Singh Gill had then visited London, where the murder was supposed to be committed, to look for a safe house for the killers. Ranuana had provided precise details of Rajiv Gandhi's itinerary stating that he had a source within the Indian High Commission in London.On October 11, just three days before the prime minister's arrival in London, the police swooped in on the cabal and arrested the plotters. The case appears to be strongest against Ranuana and Marwaha who have made substantial admissions to the police. Gill and Rai have consistently denied knowledge of any conspiracy.When the case came up before the Leicester magistrate's court and reporting restrictions were lifted, it quickly became apparent that the trial was going to be an intricate one, given the complexities surrounding the case. James Wood for the defence said the two undercover policemen had acted as "agent provocateurs" and "entrappers" to implicate the men in a plot that would otherwise not have existed. Wood branded the idea of an "agent provocateur" as "absolutely outrageous" and said "it should not be allowed to intrude into British justice". Whilst Peter Crane for the prosecution argued that the police officers who acted under cover had done so under privileges designed to make sure that those who were innocent were not encouraged to commit crimes they otherwise would not have committed. Those privileges were obeyed by the officers in the case. He said the borderline that the officers had to tread was difficult but undercover operations might well be the only way of properly discovering what was going on and making sure that such plots did not happen. Crane's argument was that it was a politically motivated plot by certain Sikhs who wanted greater independence in India but it came to nothing precisely because the police had intervened.The prosecution ran into difficulties almost immediately with detective constable " Ian B" being sworn in but he refused to give evidence if his identity was disclosed because it could jeopardise his safety and he was also involved in other undercover operations. Following the collapse of the prosecution case over the refusal of the undercover policemen to give evidence, the magistrate discharged the case under the Magistrate's Court Act and ordered that costs be paid from central funds. But three of them - Ranuana, Marwaha and Gill - were swiftly rearrested within minutes in a witness waiting-room adjoining Leicester Crown Court. Adding a political tenor to the proceedings was a small batch of Sikh demonstrators in the public gallery who shouted abuse at the police officers on guard outside the court room and accused the British Government of a campaign against Sikhs on behalf of the Indian Government.The case was then transferred to the Leicestershire Crown Court after the director of public prosecutions had intervened with a seldom used legal move in Britain - the voluntary bill of indictment which bypasses the usual procedure of committal before the magistrate's bench. A move that was predictably castigated by defence counsel Ivan Geffen, who branded it as a "political conspiracy" between British and Indian governments. He said "it was a political conspiracy designed to assist the Indian Government to deal with its problem of Sikh separatists. This whole story was manufactured by police officers". The allegation of a political conspiracy was dismissed by Peter Crane as "contemptuous nonsense". The case then remained tantalisingly poised, especially since the identity of the two officers - over which there has been a great deal of excited speculation - continued to remain a mystery. Referring to the undercover detectives, Crane pointed out: "This is not an ordinary case of a recalcitrant witness who is simply awkward. You should have well in mind what his motives are. They are not ones of not wishing to give evidence in court. There is no defiance in that sense. For both officers, it is because of their anxiety." In other words, both officers feel that if they are identified, it could endanger their lives.Meanwhile, the idea of a "mole" in the high commission was flatly rejected by high commission officials contacted by India Today. "We are still looking into it," said one official. The argument being put forward here is that the prime minister's itinerary included largely attended public functions such as the receptions accorded by the Lord Mayor and the India League which many people knew about. However, the immediate result of the allegations of a "mole" is that even greater security is being enforced in the mission. The high commission - the biggest of all the Indian high commissions - has been steadily trimming its strength of several hundred personnel of a few years ago, reducing it to just over 200.Meanwhile, a government spokesman in New Delhi expressed surprise at the British Government's failure to inform New Delhi of charges that Rajiv Gandhi's itinerary was made available to "terrorists" by a contact within the high commission. The spokesman said: "We find it surprising that the British Government did not furnish it to us immediately and that its details should have emerged in public in court proceedings seven months later. The Government of India was at no stage informed by the British authorities that such information had been provided to an alleged terrorist from within the High Commission of India in London."Published By: AtMigration Published On: Jun 15, 1986 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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Four Leicester-based Sikhs held for hatching 'Rajiv Gandhi murder plot'

The Leicester Sikhs allegedly attempted to hire IRA gunmen to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi in Britain. The parallels in both cases were characterised by the odd mixture of overheated motivation and infelicitous maldroitness.

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