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Sant Longowal had surrendered, claims Indian Army
officer
WSN Network
Amritsar: Twenty-three years after the
heinous act of Operation Bluestar, an Indian army officer who
participated in the attack on Golden Temple has now made a new
revelation, something that some Sikh groups have been claiming
intermittently -- that Sant Harchand Singh Longowal had made a
surrender before the army authorities. Also, the Indian Army has
come on record for the first time, giving facts on the infamous
Operation Bluestar in June 1984, including the break-up of the
casualties of officers, civilians and militants, apart from the
persons who had surrendered.
In his affidavit, D.V. Rao (68), a retired Brigadier, filed in the
court of Harjit Singh Khalsa, civil judge (junior div)-cum-judicial
magistrate first class, revealed that the then SAD president Sant
Harchand Singh Longowal and his colleagues had surrendered before
the Army.
It reads, "The unit commander received information from the two
civilians that H.S. Longowal with his colleagues were in the SGPC
building and were willing to surrender."
On this, Brigadier Rao deputed senior officers to make arrangements
to take them safely and lodge them in the Circuit House. Brigadier
Rao submitted evidence by way of an affidavit in the court of civil
judge senior division in connection with the suit filed by some
Jodhpur detainees against the Union of India and others for
recovery.
Brigadier Rao, who is currently working in the Training Institute of
Hyderabad, stated that in June 1984 he was posted as Commander, 350
Infantry Brigade in Jalandhar which was part of the Ninth Infantry
Division.
He was called by the civil administration to assist the civil
authorities in clearing the Golden Temple complex from terrorists
and to recover all illegal arms ammunitions, explosives etc from the
complex.
He stated that all major buildings in the Golden Temple were heavily
fortified when he reached Amritsar on May 30, 1984.
The Army under the command of Brigadier Rao was ordered to undertake
Operation Bluestar by the GOC Ninth Infantry division on the
directions of the Punjab Government.
Brigadier Rao, in his affidavit, stated that special instructions
were given to the troops that no weapons should be fired at Shri
Harmandar Sahib and heavy machine guns were not to be taken.
The troops would not wear boots but caps and other uniform. The
instructions were clear that troops would respect Shri Harmandar
Sahib with proper regards like they do in their temples. They would
fire in self-defence only.
However, as the troops advanced, terrorists opened fire from all
places, leading to heavy casualties of forces.
The Army suffered 83 deaths which included four officers, four JCOs
and 75 other ranks while 13 officers, 16 JCOs and 220 other ranks
sustained injuries. The casualties to the civilians inside Golden
Temple were 492 dead. The Army had apprehended 433 persons who were
segregated as terrorists from total of 1592 persons apprehended.
S.S. Sood, lawyer for the Jodhpur detainees, said he would 'smash'
the affidavit during the next hearing on April 17 at the time of
cross-examination.
He said Brigadier Rao, who could not appear today, was likely arrive
here on the date fixed by the court.
21 March, 2007
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