Chandigarh, July 16: Two Babbar Khalsa human bombs have conceded they were recruited to kill the army general who helped mop up Operation Bluestar and arrest militants who fled the Golden temple.

Lt Gen. (retd) Ranjit Singh Dayal, the former chief of the Western Command, was appointed adviser to the Punjab governor immediately before Bluestar in June 1984.

Paramjit Singh of Samrala and Kamaljit Singh of Mohanpur, both in Punjab, were picked up last night when they were about to board a bus for Haryana’s Panchkula where Dayal stays. A third accomplice escaped.

They had 450 gm of RDX on them, human bomb belts, detonators, batteries and a pistol.

The duo said Babbar Khalsa chief Jagtar Singh Hawara had asked them to wipe out Dayal for his role in Bluestar. Hawara fled Burail jail in January last year and was arrested last month in connection with the twin Delhi cinema blasts.

Dayal was not available for comment.