:dateline:Sikh political prisoner, Bhai Gurdeep Singh Khera (55) has spent more than 25 years in jail without ever being released on parole; except for a one-day leave to attend a family wedding around nine years ago. Gurdeep Singh is from the village of Jallupur Khera in Amritsar and was arrested in 1990 and charged with two bomb blast cases, one in New Delhi and one in Karnataka. He was sentenced to two life terms under the TADA Act. In March 2011, twenty-one years after the charges were first registered, the courts cleared Gurdeep Singh of any involvement in the Delhi bomb case. In June 2015 , Gurdeep Singh was finally transferred to Amritsar Central Jail on humanitarian grounds so that his elderly parents could be closer to him and so parole could be easily granted.
Sikh Relief has been taking care of Gurdeep Singh�s welfare, family and legal costs since he first came to our attention in 2001. We remain in regular contact with him and our team have put in a lot of hard work and effort on his case. A few weeks ago, on March19, our team member Parminder Singh visited Gurdeep Singh in Amritsar jail to prepare the Power of Attorney and necessary paperwork to re-apply for a parole leave and his permanent release. Parminder Singh also collected�the Panchayat (local council) report, Police report and DC Report which all support the fact�that Gurdeep Singh will�not pose any threat to law and order if he is allowed to return home. This information was all filed with the SSP’s office by Sikh Relief on March 28, 2016.
Meanwhile, Senior Sikh Relief Representative RP Singh, Mehar Singh Malhi and Parminder Singh held a meeting with some top officials, namely,�Lakhwinder Singh Jakhar (DGP of Panjab Jails), DGP Anil Kumar Sharma and ADGP Hardip Singh Dhillon to proceed with Gurdeep Singh’s release from a lifetime spent behind bars. Our team was�informed that if Sikh Relief were prepared to act as guarantor for Gurdeep Singh, they could not forsee a problem with his imminent parole. We immediately provided all the necessary assurances and are hopeful that in the coming weeks Gurdeep Singh may at last breathe the air of freedom.
