User:Kensplanet/Labh Singh

Labh Singh (1952 - July 12, 1988), born Sukhdev Singh, was a former Punjab Police officer who took command of the Khalistan Commando Force after its first leader, Manbir Singh Chaheru, died in 1987. He was also known as Sukha Sipahi, and General Labh Singh

He was an associate of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and fought against the Indian army during Operation Bluestar. He restructured the Khalistan Commando Force and led it until his death in 1988, allegedly taking part in attacks on police, bank robberies, and murders.

Early life
"Sukhdev Singh" was born in 1952. His parents, Puran Singh and his wife Kulwant Kaur, lived in the village of Panjwar, District Amritsar, Punjab, India. He was also known as Sukha Sipahi. In 1980, he married Davinder Kaur according to Sikh rites. They had two sons. Rajashwar Singh and Pardeep Singh. He served in police force for 12 years.

Association with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
He left his job with the police in 1983, and joined the Sikh militants. In May 1984, he, Gursewak Singh Babla, Gurinder Singh and Swaranjit Singh, was accused of killing Hind Samachar newspaper group editor Ramesh Chander. Samachar was an outspoken critic of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who had written that Punjab state has become a slaughterhouse. Indian news agency reported that a caller stated “it was notified that whoever speaks or writes against Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale will be answered with bullets.” During Operation Blue Star, he fought against Indian Army along with other Sikh militants. Arrested by the army after the operation, he was sent to Jodhpur Jail where he spent two years without trial.

Khalistan Commando Force
He escaped from police custody on April 25 1986 when Sikh militant leader Manbir Singh Chaheru and his associates attacked Indian security forces that were taking him to trail in the District courts of Jalandhar, Punjab, India. He, Gurinder Singh and Swaranjit Singh, were to appear in court on charges of slaying Ramesh Chander, a leading Hindu newspaper editor. Militants freed all three prisoners. The militants killed four police officers inside the District Court complex and two others at the courtyard gate as the attackers fled. .

Labh Singh took over the leadership of the Khalistan Commando Force after its first leader, Manbir Singh Chaheru, was arrested.

He was involved in several police encounters including daylight attack on the Director-General of the Punjab Police Julio Francis Ribeiro on October 3, 1986 inside the headquarters of Punjab Armed Police in the city of Jalandhar, Punjab, India.

Along with Harjinder Singh Jinda, Sukhdev Singh Sukha and other militants of the Khalistan Commando Force, Lab Singh took part in the daylight robbery of the Punjab National Bank, Miller Gunj branch, Ludhiana in which more than Rs 5.70 crore (58 million rupees-$4.5 million) were looted, a part of which belonged to the Reserve Bank of India, India's central bank. Sikh militants often used bank robberies to finance their violent campaign against the Indian government. .

Death and aftermath
He was killed in an exchange of fire with the police near Tanda, Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. (Faultlines, May 1999, vol. 1.1, p. 29, New Delhi: Institute of Conflict Management.) At the time of his death, he was wanted in connection with the murder of a dozen policemen, newspaper editor Ramesh Chander, attempted murder of former Punjab Police Chief Julio Francis Ribeiro and bank robbery of Ludhiana. Amritsar police Superintendent Suresh Arora declared that with his killing, police has broken the back of the KCF. Most of his family migrated to Canada after his death, though his father-in-law stayed on in Labh Singh's house. However, the father-in-law committed suicide by jumping before a train after he was "mercilessly" beaten up by the Punjab Police. The ancestral house of Sukha Sipahi, which remained abandoned for years after his killing, is occupied by his relatives now. .