LONDON: An Indian-origin man, who broke into Windsor Castle in 2021 with a loaded crossbow and threatened to kill Queen Elizabeth, has admitted to committing treason, according to New York Post.
Jaswant Singh Chail, who was 19 at that time, was stopped at the royal residence on Christmas Day 2021 after which he informed the officers that “he intended to kill the Queen”, according to prosecutors.
Chail, who is the first person to be convicted of treason in the UK since 1981, appeared at London’s Old Bailey by video-link Friday from Broadmoor Hospital — a psychiatric facility in England.
The now-21-year-old pleaded guilty under the Treason Act 1842 to making a threat to kill the late sovereign, who died at 94 on September 8, as per the report in New York Post.
The 1842 Treason Act came into effect after a man aimed a pistol at Queen Victoria during the early years of her reign.
Officials said in court Friday that Chail, who previously applied to join the Ministry of Defense Police and the Grenadier Guards, told a police protection officer, “I am here to kill the Queen.”
It’s alleged that he sought revenge for the treatment of Indians after he sent a video to several people claiming he was planning to assassinate Her Majesty, reported New York Post.
According to Voice of America, Singh was there to take revenge on all those Indians who were killed in the 1919 Jalliawala Bagh incident.
Prosecutors said Chail in his video said that he was sorry for what he was about to do. He said it was revenge “for those who died in the 1919 massacre”, according to VOA.
He was apparently referring to the 1919 incident where General O’Dwyer ordered to shoot the innocent people in Amritsar citing Rowlatt Act.
According to New York Post, Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division thanked the police for intervening at the right time.
“This was a serious incident, but fortunately a rare one. We are grateful to all those who were involved in the investigation,” Price said.
Elsewhere, London’s Metropolitan Police force said evidence from its investigation revealed that Chail “harbored ill-feeling towards the British Empire for its past treatment of Indian people,” according to New York Post. (ANI)