Ranga Billa Ki Kahani: Ranga-Billa are two criminals who did a heinous deed for ransom

On hearing the word hanging, any person starts seeing stars in the daytime. The distance between life and death starts scaring. Exactly 40 years ago, a hanging in Delhi's Tihar Jail in the 20th century has been recorded in the pages of history, while the culprit remained alive for 2 hours after the hanging. His breathing continued and the heart kept beating. Yes, 40 years ago on 31 January 1982, Ranga (Kuljeet Singh) and Billa (Jasbir Singh), the convicts who were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in the Geeta Chopra rape and murder case, were hanged together in Tihar Jail. The surprising thing is that when the doctors examined them as per the rules 2 hours after the hanging, Billa was dead, but Ranga's pulse was beating. This and many other things have been mentioned in the book 'Black Warrant' written by former law officer of Delhi's Tihar Jail, Sunil Gupta and journalist Sunetra Chaudhary.

No one had any doubt on the death of Ranga and Billa after hanging

According to the book, after hanging Ranga and Billa on the morning of January 31, 1982, the jail officials along with the executioners (Fakira and Kallu) present there had also assumed that both Ranga and Billa were dead after hanging on the noose for the stipulated time. There was so much certainty about the hanging that after this, all the people including the officers, employees and the executioner left from there, because the process after this was to happen after 2 hours.

One died, the other was alive for 2 hours

At the same time, according to the book 'Black Warrant', 2 hours after hanging Ranga and Billa, when the doctor went to the hanging house to examine the bodies of both before the postmortem as per the rules, a surprising thing came to light there. The doctor checked his pulse and found that Billa was dead, but when Ranga's pulse was checked, it was working and he was alive. The surprising thing was that Ranga was alive even after hanging in the presence of Tihar Jail officials, employees and skilled executioners.

Ranga died when the liver was pulled again

As soon as the doctor told this to the senior officials of Tihar Jail, they were shocked and there was a commotion there. During this time, both the executioners Fakira and Kallu were also present there and both were also surprised to know that Ranga was alive even after 2 hours. When the news of dreaded prisoner Ranga being found alive in the hanging house spread, there was a commotion among the jail employees, executioner and officials. After this, the executioner pulled the noose around Ranga's neck from below again, which caused his death. This is the reason why before hanging, a dummy of the convict's weight is made and tested, that too several times.

Let us tell you that Sunil Gupta, who served for years in Delhi's Tihar Jail, has mentioned this matter related to Ranga-Billa's hanging in his book 'Black Warrant'. Read the highlights of the book 'Blank Warrant' here.

It is written in the book that Ranga and Billa were hanged in Tihar on the morning of January 31, 1982. The top officials and employees, including the executioner, had assumed that both Ranga and Billa had died due to hanging.

If Sunil Gupta is to be believed, when the doctor arrived to check the hanging house two hours after Ranga and Billa were hanged, Ranga's pulse was running. After this, Ranga's noose was pulled from below and he died. Whereas, Billa had died due to hanging.

In 1978, Ranga and Billa were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court for kidnapping Geeta Chopra (sister) and Sanjay Chopra (brother) along with gang rape and murder of Geeta.

On 31 January 1982, both were hanged in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

After the uproar in the country, this case went on in the court for a total of 8 months.

On 7 April 1979, the Supreme Court sentenced both of them to death. After this, after the legal options were exhausted, both were hanged in Tihar Jail.

Ranga and Billa were very dreaded criminals. They kept committing various crimes including robbery, beating for many years. In the same sequence, in the year 1978, Ranga and Billa kidnapped a brother and sister in Delhi for ransom. Among them was sister Geeta Chopra, who was going to give a program in All India Radio, along with brother Sanjay Chopra. After giving them a lift, Ranga and Billa found out that the siblings - Geeta and Sanjay Chopra - were the children of a naval officer. Ranga and Billa killed them both out of fear of getting caught. The barbarity reached its peak when Geeta Chopra was also raped before the murder. After this, after a long legal battle, the Supreme Court also sentenced Kuljeet Singh alias Ranga Khush and Jasbir Singh alias Billa to death. After this, after all the formalities, both were hanged four years after the incident. To hang Ranga and Billa, two executioners Fakira and Kalu were called from Faridkot and Meerut jails by the Tihar administration.
The dreaded criminals were very uncomfortable before the hanging

Ranga and Billa were very uncomfortable before being hanged. Both of them were also aware that hanging was certain for the crime they had committed. In such a situation, when they were given tea on the morning of January 31, 1982, both drank it reluctantly. He also refused to give up his will. Then on the day of his execution on 31 January 1982, his face was covered and a noose was put around his neck. According to the book Black Warrant, before dying, Ranga had said 'Jo bole so ni' (I will never say anything).On the other hand, about two hours after the executioner pulled the lever, the doctors who examined their bodies found that Ranga's pulse was beating. After this, a guard was lowered into the well, above which Ranga's body was hanging. The guard came down and pulled Ranga's legs. After this, the process of hanging Ranga and Billa was completed.