General Labh Singh

General Labh Singh was born Sukhdev Singh in Panjwar village, Amritsar district. The Tribune also records him as Sukha Sipahi. He should not be confused with Sukhdev Singh Sukha, one of the men named in the Vaidya killing, or with Sukhdev Singh Babbar of the Babbar Khalsa. The 1984 Tribute site, a Sikh tribute site, gives the fullest account of his life; the points below are from it unless another source is named.

He joined the Punjab Police but, after 13 Sikhs were killed in the April 1978 clash with Nirankari followers, grew disillusioned with the force and left it. He joined the Damdami Taksal under Bhindranwale, who gave him the name Labh Singh. In June 1984 he guarded the side entrance to Sri Akal Takht Sahib, was arrested, tortured in several jails and held among the Jodhpur detainees.

• After the Sarbat Khalsa of January 1986 the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) was formed under Manbir Singh Chaheru. After Chaheru's arrest and disappearance on 9 August 1986, Labh Singh took command. The Tribune in 2001 called Labh Singh the KCF's first chief; the two accounts differ on who counts as first, and both agree he was its leader in 1986 to 1988.
• 10 August 1986: General Arun Vaidya, the Army chief during Operation Blue Star, was shot dead in Pune. The 1984 Tribute account says Labh Singh sent Jinda, Sukha and Mathura Singh the day after Chaheru's arrest.
• 2 August 1987: an attack on Julio Ribeiro, Punjab's director general of police, at his Jalandhar headquarters. Ribeiro survived. The Tribune records that Labh Singh was held responsible for it.
• 12 July 1988: he was killed. The 1984 Tribute account says a police snatch squad arrested him after he was betrayed and that he was tortured and killed without giving up his colleagues. Wikipedia records the killing and the date without describing how, and the Tribune says only that he was later killed. No police account has been found to set beside the Sikh one.
• Notices for bhog ceremonies at Tanda on 18 July and at Panjwar on 21 July 1988 were signed by groups and leaders including Wassan Singh Zaffarwal and Gurbachan Singh Manochahal.

After his death the KCF divided. The Tribune says Kanwaljit Singh Sultanwind took command briefly and then Paramjit Singh Panjwar; other accounts list factions under Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, Panjwar and Gurjant Singh Rajasthani.

He is remembered in the Sikh tribute accounts as one of the front-rank commanders of the Kharku Sangharsh. The state's account of him is not in the sources found.