Chandigarh, Feb 20 (PTI) Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassination case, on Monday distanced himself from the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha which is spearheading the protests to seek release of Sikh prisoners in old cases.

Asserting that he was an Akali, Rajoana said he has nothing to do with the morcha which has been protesting at the Chandigarh-Mohali border for more than a month now.

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Rajoana, who is lodged in Central jail, Patiala, was brought to a government hospital for a medical check-up.

Asked by reporters while being taken to the hospital, Rajoana said, "I have nothing to do with the morcha."

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He said the organisers of the morcha have an objection that he was an Akali.

"I am an Akali (belongs to Shiromani Akali Dal) and will remain an Akali," he said.

Rajoana asked the organisers of the morcha to make their stand clear about their political affiliations.

Rajoana, a former Punjab Police constable, was convicted for his involvement in an explosion outside the Punjab civil secretariat that killed Beant Singh and 16 others on August 31, 1995.

A special court in July 2007 awarded the death sentence to Rajoana in the case. His death sentence was stayed in 2012. He has spent more than 26 years in jail.

Under the banner of Qaumi Insaaf Morcha, people from various parts of Punjab have been holding protest and had also laid siege at the YPS chowk near the Mohali-Chandigarh border since January 7.

Nihangs (Sikhs armed with traditional weapons), members of several Sikh bodies and some farm bodies have extended support to the morcha.

Protesters have been seeking the release of Sikh prisoners, including Rajoana, and Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, a 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict, saying they are lodged in different jails "despite completing their sentences".

They have been pressing for the release of Sikh prisoners, many of whom were arrested in connection with terror and separatist activities in Punjab, claiming that they were being discriminated against in the grant of remission.

They are also seeking justice in the 2015 sacrilege and police-firing incidents in Faridkot.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)