Would the arrest of Manjit Singh Rattu save the life of Sarabjit Singh ?

By Satinder Bains

##ad_1##CHANDIGARH: With the arrest of Manjit Singh Rattu, an infamous journalist of Punjab, a debate has begun in the media on the fate of Sarabjit Singh who si facing death sentence in ##img_1##Pakistan in a bomb blast case. The involvement of Manjit Singh Rattu in the blast case was first exposed by Punjabnewsline.com on July 4,2006.

Manjit Singh Rattu who is considered an operative of intelligence agancies of India and Pakistan was allegedly involved in the Karachi bomb blasts on the basis of which Sarabjit Singh has been given capital punishment. Punjabnewsline.com has provided the information to UK police and Awais Sheikh the lawyer of Sarabjit in Pakistan on the basis of which fresh mercy petition was filed to Pakistan President. Awais Shiekh who was recently in India however tried to take credit for himself. It was a joint operation by Punjabnewsline.com and London police which was after Rattu.

Manjit Singh Rattu was arrested by Haryana police without knowing his antecedents and it shocked them when they came to know about the background of person. In fact Manjit Singh had cheated a mobile seller who happened to be a friend of a local TV channel's reporter. Gurjit Singh the mobile show owner cheated by Rattu said when his cheque for Rs.26000 was dishonored, he filed a complaint and it led to major expose.

The PTC news channel on Thursday evening held a discussion on the issue in which Ranjan Lakhanpal senior advocate, Arvind Thankur human rights activist and Punjabnewsline editor participated. It emerged out of discussion that Manjit Singh Rattu might be working for Indian intelligece agencies. An effort to save him may also be made by the police. If he happens to be real Manjit Singh, it would be an embarassing situation for the Indian Government.

##ad_2##Manjit Singh Rattu is a notorisous personality who is operating in different countries. He is holding passports of India, Pakistan, UK and USA. He was jailed in Canada and wanted in UK. Is this possible for any person to keep passports of so many countries and frequently travel around the world. He was arrested by Canada police while illegally entering from US border.

It was only after some TV channels followed the story, Haryana police came to know about the real face of Rattu. He misguided the police and claimed that he was a US citizen and NRI who has came to India to start a business.

Gurjit Singh the victim of Rattu told Punjabnwesline that Rattu orered hin 100 mobile phones and issued him a cheque which was dishonoured. Gurjit ontacted the police and put his mobile on surveillance. The mistake Rattu did was that he used same mobile and different sim cards. The police detected his wherebaouts from his tower location. The police raided his residence at 5 AM and his house was locked from outside. The police broke opened the door and arrested him hiding in a corner.

Rattu's name also figured in the murder of Tara Singh Hayor editor of Indo-Canadian Times in Canada and he was questioned by Canada police. His name also figured in the assassination of late Beant Singh Chief Minister of Punjab.

Rattu claims that he is very close to Naunihal Singh SSP of Chandigarh. He also enjoyed the patronage of many Punjab police officers.

But the question arises,would manjit Singh Rattu be ever punished for his misdeeds. And his arrest would save the life of Sarabjit Singh. Punjabnewsline.com is not against Manjit Singh Rattu, it is matter of media ethics which we are trying to keep up. Otherwise he is a journalist friend.