CHANDIGARH: Controversial Chief of Nihang sect Tarna Dal, Ajit Singh Poohla who was on Thursday set on fire by two under trial prisoners in Amritsar jail died on Friday in PGI Chandigarh.

Poohla was facing trial in a case regarding the murder of seven members of a family in Beas area and the accused were also facing murder charges. Poohla was lodged in separate cell in the jail where two youth identified as Harcharan Singh and Navtej Singh entered and sprinkled diesel on Poohla and set him on fire. He had received 70 percent burns and was shifted to PGI Chandigarh.

The accused told police they had heard about the atrocities committed by Poohla and attempted to kill him but had no personal enmity with the Nihang chief. Poohla had allegedly killed many people during militancy and grabbed land and raped women to spread his terror. He was backed up by certain police officers.

He worked for police during the height of militancy in the state. Poohla and his gang had been then equipped with sophisticated arms and ammunition to enable him fight against terrorists in Punjab, sources said.

Post militancy, Poohla did not mend "his way of tyranny". He was first arrested in 2004 in connection with the murder of one Sukhdev Singh and again last year in the mass murder case, they said.

Col G.S.Sandhu (retd) had formed Majha ex-servicemen frong to fight against terror of Poohla and he exposed the crimes committed by Poohla. Though present SAD government had soft corner towards him, the former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had got him arrested.

Before his death Poohla had told media that he was under constant threat and was attacked under some conspiracy. He had demanded an inquiry.

Poohla was lodged in Amritsar Central Jail following the cancellation of his bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a murder case. He was arrested by the former Congress government led by Amarinder Singh, following agitation by the Majha Ex-Servicemen’s League, led by Col G.S. Sandhu.

During the peak of militancy, Poohla was a terror in the border belt of the state. He, however, extended support to the security agencies hence was on the hit list of militants those days. The beleaguered Taruna Dal Nihang chief once enjoyed a high-security cover with 42 official gunmen and 77 sophisticated weapons during militancy.

The Nihang chief was again arrested on May 13 this year from Darhewal Kotli village (Ghuman police station) in connection with an old case pertaining to the murder of seven members of the family of Joga Singh of Khanpur village. Earlier, Poohla was arrested on July 29, 2004, from his headquarters at Jhutha Kartarpur, near Baba Bakala, in a joint raid conducted by the Nawanshahr and local police with the active support of ex-servicemen in connection with the murder of Nihang Sukhdev Singh at Mazaar Sayeed Jora Peer Behram in Nawanshahr police district on June 20, 2002.

Later, on April 9, 2007, the Beas police again arrested the Nihang leader following a crackdown on his headquarters, gurdwara Damdama Sahib. He was arrested on charges of forcibly ploughing the standing wheat crop belonging to Santokh Singh, a resident of Lakhowal village, a couple of days ago.