A few days ago, Leader of the Opposition in the UK House of Commons Keir Starmer asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson to request the Indian government to release from prison a British citizen named Jagtar Singh Johal.
A Scottish Sikh man from Dumbarton who was arrested in 2017 a few days after his wedding for allegedly funding terrorism and for allegedly playing a role in the targeted killings of some Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders, Johal's case has also been raised by the United Nation's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which states that he has been detained "arbitrarily."
The panel has argued that the "continued pre-trial detention of Mr Johal lacks legal basis, and is arbitrary," and that there is "no judicially admissible evidence against Johal, despite intelligence agencies having over three years to investigate."
On the other hand, the Indian government has said that Johal's arrest and detention were based on "sufficient prosecutable evidence."
The problem is that the "sufficient prosecutable evidence" had not led to the commencement of a trial against him. Even the charges are yet to be framed by the court, despite Jagtar Johal being locked up for four-and-a-half years.
His brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, who is a solicitor and a local councillor in Scotland, has campaigned for his release since Jagtar was first arrested.
The Quint spoke to Gurpreet Singh Johal to understand more about the case and the kind of campaigning that he does for his brother.
We Thought Jagtar Was Abducted: Brother
"Jagtar came to India from Scotland to get married," Gurpreet Johal told The Quint.
"He got married on 18 October 2017. He was supposed to come back to the UK on the 1st of November 2017. But he decided to stay with his wife in India, get her VISA application sorted out, and spend time with her after the wedding."
Going on to describe how Jagtar Johal was taken away by the police in broad daylight, Gurpreet Johal said, "on the 4th of November, Jagtar went out shopping with his wife and his cousin. They were travelling by car in Jalandhar when it was intercepted and stopped at a busy road. Jagtar was taken out of the car, hooded, and then taken away."
Jagtar Johal's family's immediate reaction was that this was a criminal kidnapping.
"His wife and my cousin were standing in the middle of the road in Jalandhar, screaming. She called me, and I was in the UK. The news shook the world underneath our feet because at the time, we thought that it was a kidnapping since Jagtar was a British national in India, someone with money or something. That’s the first thing that I thought of."
Allegations of Custodial Torture
Johal's family started making enquiries in India about what was going on. Their first stop was Jalandhar Police Station where Johal’s wife and cousin were told that he was at Bagha Purana Police Station in Moga district, about two hours away.
"The family went to the police station and was told that there was nobody there. Later at night, the police called them and said that Jagtar was there, and that they should come the next morning. Then they got another call, and were asked to come to the court instead. Then they received another call in which they were told to not go to the court, but to the police station," Gurpreet Johal said.
At this point of time, Jagtar Johal's family consulted a lawyer.
"When the UK government called Bagha Purana Police Station, the latter said that they will call back but the police never answered the phone again. Jagtar was then taken to the court on 10 November 2017. He was not given access to his lawyers, he was secretly brought in and secretly taken out," the brother alleged.
Jagtar Johal's first court appearance, according to his brother, was on 14 November 2017. This was when he told his advocate about the torture, "the third-degree torture that he had suffered in police custody," Gurpreet Johal said.
"He had even asked his lawyer, 'If I tell everyone what happened, will they do this to me again?' His lawyer had replied, 'If you don’t tell anyone now, no one will ever believe you after this.'"
The advocate even sought a medical examination for Jagtar Johal, but till date, no medical examination has taken place, the brother added.
Blank Documents and 'Confession' Leak
Gurpreet Johal had traveled to India immediately after his brother's arrest.
"I landed in India on 6 November 2017. I tried to make enquiries but I too could find out nothing. On 7 November 2017, then Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh and the DGP of Punjab Police held a conference in which they said that they had held some people for the murder of RSS members. Jagtar’s name was given as one of the accused," Johal said.
This is a reference to a special press conference held on 7 November 2017 by Captain Amarinder Singh, who claimed that the Punjab Police had solved the case relating to the murder of RSS leader Jagdish Kumar Gagneja, as well as other high-profile killings in the state.
The then Punjab CM said that his team had exposed "a major conspiracy hatched by ISI to fan communal disturbances and disrupt peace in the state."
An Indian Express report published on 8 November 2017 regarding the same mentions "Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi, a UK national who got married in Punjab on 18 October and was apprehended in Jalandhar."
Gurpreet Johal, however, asks that if "Amarinder claims that his police had evidence against those arrested, then why has Jagtar not been formally charged yet?"
Talking about the evidence, Gurpreet alleges that his brother "was forced to sign blank documents. Any evidence obtained under torture is inadmissible."
"A 'confession' video came out and this was leaked by the authorities to News18. If a man is under investigation, then why would the police leak such a video and why would the media run it? In that video, Jagtar says that he used to listen to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Is that a crime? The way the Indian media portrayed him then, they made him look guilty. There was nothing in that confession. It was just for the headlines," he added.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the cases and got six of Jagtar's cases shifted to Delhi.
On the NIA, Gurpreet Johal said, "To date, Jagtar has not been formally charged with any of the NIA cases. There is a charge sheet in all of the cases but no charges have been framed against him. It has been three years since the cases against him have shifted from Punjab to Delhi. So, as it stands, there are only allegations against him. There are no charges."
'Clinching Evidence': What the Indian Govt Claims
The Indian government has alleged Jagtar Johal's role in targeted killings from April 2016 to October 2017, including the one of Gagneja, and that he was aware in advance of the plot to kill them.
The police also claim, according to The Indian Express, that Johal was in contact with the alleged schemers of the targeted murders, two of whom are – Pakistan-based Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) member Harmeet Singh and a UK-based man called Gursharanbir Singh.
Harmeet Singh was killed in January, allegedly by a local gang in Pakistan over financial disputes that roots in drug smuggling, the Hindustan Times reported on 28 January 2020.
The police also claim to have "clinching evidence" that Jagtar Johal was in touch with Sikh extremists abroad and had even met KLF terror operative Harminder Singh Mintoo in France.
The investigation, the police say, has revealed that he allegedly arranged money to fund the purchase of weapons in India for terrorist activities.
It is pertinent to note that Mintoo died of 'cardiac arrest' in Patiala in April 2018.
In Jagtar Singh Johal Alias Jaggi vs National Investigation Agency at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the latter submitted earlier this year that "there is sufficient evidence" against Johal "to establish his involvement in the conspiracy of targeted killings/attempted killings ... of persons that took place in the state of Punjab during the period 2016."
Additionally, in its reply against the bail application filed by Jagtar Johal on 17 March, the NIA alleged that he is a "chronic offender," and "involved in eight cases of murder."
'Where is the Evidence?'
Gurpreet Johal questioned the validity of these allegations.
"Two masterminds that were supposed to be a part of this are both dead. The allegation is that Jagtar went to France. That's a fact, I won't deny that. I know that he went to France," he told The Quint.
"He is supposed to have met Harminder Singh Mintoo. I don't know whether he did that or not. And he is supposed to have given him 3,000 pounds. Again, I don't know if that's true or not because I was not there. Only Jagtar can answer that question. This is supposed to have happened in 2012 or 2013, and those 3,000 pounds have apparently been used for the murders for which he is being accused of. But here's the thing – the first murder took place in 2016."
"Let's say Jagtar went to France in 2013, and the first murder happens three years later. How far is 3,000 pounds supposed to get you? The person who has allegedly given the money is deceased. If he has given the money, and I'm emphasising on the word 'if', where is the evidence that the money was used for these killings?"
'If He Has Done Anything, Charge Him'
Gurpreet Johal concludes the interview with a reminder that while Jagtar Johal is his brother, he still has the professionalism that accompanies a solicitor.
"I've been clear all this while, if he has done anything wrong, charge him, get him a fair trial, convict him. And then whatever we need to do, we'll do, because that's the fair process. That's how I have been trained as well," he said.
"On the other hand, if he hasn't done anything, let him go. Let him carry on his life."
He even went on to cite Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects an individual's right to their private and family life.
"Jagtar has a right to live his family life. He had just gotten married, and within days, he was abducted in front of his newly wedded wife. For four-and-a-half years, she has been waiting. She has a right to start her family and move forward, as does my brother."
"And it's not just Jagtar's family," Gurpreet Johal adds, "this whole case is also affecting my family."
"My children want to see their chacha, their uncle back home. They have missed him for the past four-and-a-half years. I, as a father, have missed time with my children because my whole time and focus goes into getting my brother back," he said.
Gurpreet Johal's Social Media Campaign
The social media campaign in support of Jagtar Johal has mostly aimed to attract the attention of politicians and the media.
"Our district MP, Martin Docherty-Hughes, has raised Jagtar's case at every level possible, that is, with the foreign secretary, the prime minister, and the ministers who keep coming to Scotland," Gurpreet Johal said.
"In April 2018, the then Prime Minister, Theresa May, raised Jagtar's case with Prime Minister Modi when the latter was in the UK. That's a prime minister to a prime minister level communication."
"And with respect to Boris Johnson being in India recently," he continued, "it has been confirmed that he raised the case with PM Modi as well. So that's two prime ministers who have raised the case. That's a product of campaigning."
The British media has also written extensively about Jagtar's case, including major newspapers like The Guardian and broadcasters like the BBC.
When asked about how frequently he talks to his brother, Gurpreet Johal said, "In the last four years, I’ve had seven phone calls from him, that's it. The first call lasted about 30 seconds. I’ve had two video link meetings with him as well. The first one was nine months ago, and the other one was two or three months ago, but that then just focused on Jagtar's wife and my children speaking to him," he added.
"We're at the mercy of the Indian state."
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)