Kehar Singh

Kehar Singh was tried and executed for conspiracy in the plot to assassinate Indira Gandhi, carried out by Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. He was hanged in Tihar jail on January 6, 1989.

The assassination was motivated by Operation Blue Star which was on 1 June 1984, the military action against the Sikh "Golden Temple" in Amritsar. During the operation there was significant damage to the temple and caused the death of hundreds of innocent civilians including women and children. These violent events which led to the desecration of the sikh holy shrine Golden Temple / Harminder Sahib caused outrage amongst the Sikh community, which claimed that the attacks were pre-planned and that anti-Sikh violence which followed was government orchestrated. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh were Sikh bodyguards of Indira Gandhi, and on 31 October 1984 they assassinated her in her garden, putting sixteen bullets in her chest and abdomen.

Beant Singh was killed by gunfire at the scene of the assassination. Satwant Singh was arrested and Kehar Singh was later arrested for conspiracy in the assassination. Both were sentenced to death and hanged in Tihar jail in Delhi.