Khera shifted to Amritsar jail amid tight security

AMRITSAR: Within two weeks of shifting of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar to Amritsar from Delhi's Tihar jail, another terror convict Gurdeep Singh Khera was brought to the city jail from Karnataka's Gulbarga prison in the wee hours of Friday under tight security.
Khera, who hails from Jallupur Khera village near Amritsar, was booked under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Reacting to the development, BJP's former vice-president Laxmi Kanta Chawla said with the arrival of Bhullar and Khera in Amritsar, Punjab government had made the Holy City a centre for separatist elements by allowing them to get together, which was not a good sign for state's heard-earned peace. She alleged that it was a deliberate attempt to bring back the terrorists lodged in jails of other states into Punjab.
Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was here on Friday, said, "The request to transfer Khera was from the other state. We didn't make any such request."
Earlier, Sikh hardliners, including SAD (Amritsar) leader Harbir Singh Sandhu, Jarnail Singh Sakhira, United Akali Dal president Mohkam Singh and Baldev Singh Sirsa, waited for Khera at the Amritsar railway station.
Harbir said, "We want all Sikh prisoners, who have completed their jail terms, to be set free and those who are still languishing in jails of other states to be shifted to Punjab." He also alleged that jail administration didn't allow Khera's parents Banta Singh and Jagir Kaur to meet him
Amritsar jail superintendent R K Sharma said there were fixed days for meeting the inmates and they had only followed the set procedure. He also informed that Khera was hail and hearty and lodged with other jail inmates.