Lala Jagat Narain assassinated

Who: Victim: Lala Jagat Narain: Hindu newspaper magnate, founder-editor of the Hind Samachar group (publishing Punjab Kesari, Hind Samachar, Jag Bani newspapers). Assassins: men who rode up on a motorcycle (India Today, 30 September 1981). The sources cited do not name them. Asia Watch says Bhindranwale's followers were suspected.

What: Jagat Narain was shot and killed near Ludhiana on September 9, 1981. He was a prominent Hindu newspaper magnate who had consistently editorialized against Sikh political demands and for strong Indian-state response to Akali Dal mobilization. India Today reports that, four kilometres outside Ludhiana that evening, men on a motorcycle fired at his car and two of them jumped off and fired point blank at its occupants. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he had been highly critical of Bhindranwale, who had also criticised him strongly; Asia Watch says his papers had been highly critical of the preacher.

Where: Near Ludhiana, Punjab, according to PTI and Asia Watch. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls him a press baron of Jalandhar.

Why it mattered: The killing led to Bhindranwale's arrest. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says the government suspected his hand in the murder and issued warrants for his arrest; Asia Watch says the Punjab police arrested him on that suspicion. On 14 October 1981 Home Minister Giani Zail Singh told Parliament there was no evidence against him (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism). The Caravan says implicating him "proved to be a mistake, only increasing his popularity in the state", and Asia Watch says his weeks in jail increased his popularity and that by the end of 1981 he was arguably the most powerful leader in Punjab.

The Bhindranwale arrest-and-release sequence:

• Bhindranwale was "to surrender" to authorities at Chowk Mehta (see Chowk-Mehta) on September 20, 1981.
• The surrender was mishandled, police fired on the sangat; at least 12 killed (The Caravan), more in Sikh accounts.
• Bhindranwale was arrested.
• He was released after 25 to 26 days in custody. Asia Watch says he was released 25 days after the surrender and dates the release 14 October 1981; The Caravan says he spent 26 days in custody and was released because nothing could be established against him.