Lieutenant General Kuldeep Singh Brar, who was involved in a 1984 operation against Sikh militants, was ambushed in London

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Three Sikh men and a woman have received lengthy jail sentences after being convicted of slashing an elderly Indian general in the neck.

Lieutenant General Kuldeep Singh Brar, 78, who was involved in a military operation against Sikh militants in Amritsar in 1984 that left around 1,000 people dead, was attacked by a gang of four during a visit to London.

He was walking with his wife on Old Quebec Street near Marble Arch when he was ambushed on 30 September last year.

Mandeep Singh Sandhu, 35, of Great Barr, Birmingham, and Dilbag Singh, 37, of no fixed abode, were on Tuesday sentenced to 14 years in prison while Harjit Kaur, 39, of Hayes, Middlesex, was jailed for 11 years, a Metropolitan police spokesman said.

They were all found guilty of wounding with intent following a trial at Southwark crown court in July after a jury took just an hour to convict them.

A third man – Barjinder Singh Sangha, 34, of Wolverhampton, had previously pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and was sentenced to 10 and a half years.

Singh Sangha had also been charged with the common assault of Meena Brar, Kuldeep Singh Brar's wife, but the offence was ordered to lie on file.

The victim's role in the Indian army, overseeing "a number of military operations ... made him a target for Sikh extremist groups", the court heard.

The attack on the now retired general was described as "highly premeditated".

The group had travelled to London on 28 and 29 September and carried out reconnaissance of the area where he was staying.

On the day of the attack, Kaur followed the couple around the capital, providing her co-defendants with regular updates about their movements and allowing them to intercept them as they were returning to their hotel from an evening out.

As the pair passed the group at around 10.30pm, Sangha grabbed the general's wife and held her by the throat against a wall while the others attacked Brar before he also joined in.

The gang then fled on foot towards Oxford Street, leaving the elderly man lying on the ground with serious injuries.

He was left with a 12-inch cut which ran across his jaw and neck and sliced through muscle. He also received hospital treatment for a three-inch cut to the jaw.

The subsequent investigation was carried out by the Met's counterterrorism command (SO15).

Brar had been in the Indian army for 40 years, rising to the rank oflieutenant general, and is well-known for his role in Operation Blue Star, which involved attacking the Golden Temple which is sacred to Sikhs.

He has survived several assassination attempts and still receives death threats, the court heard, but none of the defendants was accused of any other attacks.

The Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi, and the chief of the Indian army, General Arun Vaidya, were among several people assassinated in the aftermath of the operation.

The general said that when the Indian army went in to the Golden Temple on the night of the operation they had wanted to use minimal force and cause as little damage as possible to the holy shrine.

Upon entering they came under fire "from all directions" and the "soldiers were dropping like flies", he said.

Brar, who visited the UK annually with his wife, was not travelling with any security.

Commander Richard Walton, head of SO15, said: "This was a pre-planned and organised attempt to assassinate General Brar for his military involvement in the siege of the Golden Temple in India in 1984.

"It was ultimately unsuccessful and we are pleased that the sentencing reflects the seriousness of this attack."