Ranjit Singh Gill is the son of Dr. Khem Singh Gill, former Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana (PAU).
At the age of 24 he was pursuing his Masters in Plant Breeding and Genetics at PAU and was due to submit his thesis. He had received an offer of fellowship from Kansas State to undertake doctoral research which he was planning to take-up soon after. But just months later in 1985, Kuki Gill found himself charged with the murder of prominent Congress politician Lalit Maken and his wife Geetanjali following the aftermath of the 1984 genocide in Delhi.
To evade capture he had escaped to the USA where he spent 13 years in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. In May 2000, Kuki Gill along with companion and fellow inmate Sukhwinder Singh relinquished their appeals to remain in the US of their own volition and opted to return to India. Upon arrival, Kuki was immediately imprisoned.
In 2003, having spent 17 years in detention Kuki was released from prison on parole under strict conditions restricting his movement, whilst awaiting a final hearing to determine his future. At this time his mother was terminally ill and she passed away some time after.
From that time Kuki remained within the confines of Ludhiana along with his supportive father and the devoted wife whom he married after being released.
Early in 2009, the lengthy trial concluded by reaffirming the life sentence that was facing Kuki Gill, and after surrendering himself to police in Delhi he entered the prison system once again. But finally, almost 25 years after the event that changed his life forever, Ranjit Singh Gill became a free man when his sentence was commuted by the Chief Minister of Delhi.
Today, Ranjit Singh ‘Kuki’ Gill is rebuilding his life by working hard with young people from across the Punjab, inspiring them to expect better from their own lives and the society in which they live. He is encouraging countless more Punjabis and Sikhs across the globe through his work with us at Naujawani.com and we are proud to provide the platform to do so.
