Assassination of Arun Vaidya

Explained by Shaheed Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha

 

“…I and Daljit Singh (Bittu) stayed here in Pune. We then brought an Indo-Suzuki motorcycle to assassinate general Vaidya. For many days we would go by Vaidya’s house; we would only see his guards standing but never saw Vaidya himself. Vaidya had a DIB1437 Maruti car. One day, Daljit Singh went to the hospital in Bombay to see if Sukhwinder Singh (KC Sharma) was okay. On that day, I went to the market on the motorcycle and spotted Vaidya’s car. He stopped the car ahead and I parked the motorcycle nearby. I looked carefully and it was him along with his guards. I had no weapon on me; I immediately went home to get my weapon, but when I came back, he had gone.

 

The next day, Daljit Singh came back. We went to Vaidya’s house but he had taken his car out somewhere and did not return for a few days. We then made plans to go back to Punjab as brother Harjinder Singh (Jinda) had escaped from Ahmedabad. I hadn’t seen him, so I said to brother (Daljit Singh) let’s go meet him and then we will come back to Pune. So we went to Punjab; there we met our brother (Harjinder Singh) then set off back to Pune.

 

On 3rd August, I, Harjinder Singh and another brother arrived in Durg, Madhya Pradesh from Punjab. Then I and Harjinder Singh went to Pune.

 

On 7th August 1986, we came to Pune. Vaidya had moved house from there and some other major general had moved in. We thought we would go to his house and ask where Vaidya had gone. I went to the house whilst brother Harjinder Singh stood outside ready. The major general was not at home but one of his servants was. I asked his servant about Vaidya; he didn’t know properly and I couldn’t understand what he was saying fully in return. He told me that further up ahead there is a bridge and next to that there is a colony, and that Vaidya lives there. So, we made that journey.

 

The colony was very big and there were lots of houses further in the fields. We drove around all day on the motorcycle. After driving around for a while, finally we spotted a house with a Maruti car parked inside but we couldn’t see the number plate because it was parked at an angle. Further, there was no sign of Vaidya.

 

The next day we spotted a guard and having recognised one of the guards I said, “That’s the same guards.” On the third day, on 10th August 1986, at approximately 9.30am in the morning we arrived at the front of his house. We circled nearby but there was no sight of him. Then we went again at 11am to the front of his house. When we arrived, we saw his wife had an umbrella in her hand and was with the guards. When we saw the umbrella, we realised that they were about to leave their house. Straightaway Vaidya also came out of the house. They all sat in the car and Vaidya drove. We set off on our motorcycle and started following them.

 

They stopped at a market and went into a store to buy something. We also stopped our motorcycle nearby. The motorcycle was unreliable and we had to push it to start it. Then a parking attendant came over and said park your bike, I can’t let you stop here like that. Soon after, Vaidya and everyone with him came out of the shop. They then drove off, stopping further on to buy some vegetables, before setting off to go back home. Harjinder Singh said, “Today we will not let them return home!”

 

Harjinder Singh was driving the motorcycle and said “Shall I go level with them?” I said “Do it!”

 

When the motorcycle went level with them, the bullets pierced into him and his face hit the steering wheel. Blood was gushing out of his face and nose. We were convinced he was dead so we roared slogans. Vaidya’s car went and crashed on the side of the road.

 

At the place where we had assassinated Vaidya was a police station and also Ranjit Dayal’s house. There were quite a few guards stood there.

 

We made our way back to our house, changed our clothes, boarded different buses and went to Bombay. From Bombay, we boarded a train and went to Durg, stayed one night in Durg and then went to Calcutta…”

 

Shaheed Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha