Bela Sinh (died 1934) was a resident of village Jian (district Hoshiarpur). He was a tout of the police, at Vancouver, Canada. He used to work in collaboration with William Hopkinson, an official of the police intelligence. Hopkinson had been engaged for collecting intelligence reports about the Sikhs as well as to create problems for the Sikh immigrants in Canada. The Sikhs had a lot of trouble from Hopkinson and Bela. Bela was also responsible for the arrests of several activists of the freedom struggle. He was successful in planting his men in various organisations. He arranged fake documents to help some of his associates to migrate to Canada. His role during the Kamagata Maru episode was most irritating for the people. The first act done by the Sikhs, against him, was the murder of one of his men, Harnam Singh, on August 17, 1914. Dead body of Harnam Singh was found on August 31. Hopkinson himself admitted that Harnam was “one of his men”. On September 4, a man named Ram Singh accidentally killed Arjan Singh. Arjan Singh’s body was cremated on September 5. During the funeral ceremony Bela tried to kill Bhai Bhag Singh and Bhai Mit Singh (the two leaders of the Sikhs of Canada) but could not do so because of the presence of a police official. When, in the evening, the Sikhs went to Gurdwara, Bela fired at Bhai Bhag Singh, who was performing services of Guru Granth Sahib. Bhai Battan Singh tried to save Bhai Bhag Singh. At this Bela fired indiscriminately, seriously wounding Bhai Bhag Singh, Bhai Battan Singh, Bhai Uttam Singh, Bhai Jawala Singh, Bhai Dalip Singh, Bhai Labh Singh and two more. Bhai Bhag Singh and Bhai Battan Singh succumbed to injuries, the next day. Bela was arrested from his residence (1752, Second Avenue, Vancouver). On September 15, 1914, Bela was charged for two murders. On October 2, 1914, defence witness of Bela appeared in the court. Partab Sinh Tatoonwala (brother of Harnam Singh, murdered on or before August 31), Gangu Ram, Dr. Raghu Nath (the only passenger of Komagata Maru who was allowed to land), Babu, Thakar, Sewa, Amar, Nattha and Karam appeared in defence of Bela and told the court that Bela had fired in self-defence. Hopkinson was also to appeared in the defence of Bela, on October 21, 1914. Hopkinson was killed in the court by Bhai Mewa Singh. On October 30, Bhai Mewa Singh was sentenced to death, but, Bela was acquitted in the case of two murders, on November 21, 1914. On December 8, 1914, Bela and his associate Bawa Sinh attacked Bhai Mit Singh Pandori, but the latter escaped. On March 18, 1915, an attempt was made at the life of Bela by Bhai Jagat Singh of Bhoot Wind. At that time, Partap Singh Kotaliwala, an associate of Bela, over-powered Bhai Jagat Singh and shot him dead. (In this case Partab Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment; he was released after four years). Bela appeared as a defence witness for Partab. On April 13, 1915, Bela and his gang blew up the residence of Bhai Mahtab Singh (1748, Third Avenue) with dynamite. Mahtab Singh was killed in the explosion and several others were injured. On April 16, 1915, Bela and his associates, Bhagat Sinh Haripur, Sewa Sinh Numano and Naina Sinh Kandola, attacked Bhai Lachhman Singh, at 1668, Second Avenue and wounded him (simply because he belonged to the same village, where Bhai Balwant Singh came from). In this case, Bela and his gang was charged. On June 12, 1915, he was sentenced to imprisonment for one year. After his release he stayed in Canada for some time. The police was sure that his life was in danger. He was given a lot of money for his services to the white regime and was sent to his home village Jian (district Hoshiarpur). He was granted a police guard by the British regime. Even in the Punjab, Bela did not stop his activities. He was responsible for the arrest of several Babar Akalis. It was on his information that police attacked the group of Bhai Karam Singh Daulatpur. Bela was on the hit-list of several groups of revolutionaries. They had been waiting for an opportunity. On November 28, 1933, a meeting was held at a secret place some where in district Amritsar to punish Bela. Within a few months, Bela was killed by Bhai Hari Singh Soondh and his companions. Bela’s head was severed, his legs and arms were chopped off and the rest of his body was cut into pieces and thrown into a ditch. Bela was killed in April-May 1934. A report about his death was published in The Sun (Vancouver), in its issue of May 9, 1934. The killers of Bela could not be identified for several years. They were tried later, but were acquitted because of insufficient evidence. Another source mentions the date as 8.12.1933
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)