An Indian court sent a former Test cricketer and MP to prison Thursday for killing a man in a road-rage outburst in 1988, officials said.
Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in line with orders of the Indian Supreme Court and was arrested and sent to prison, court officials from the northern city of Chandigarh said.
Sidhu was convicted last month of a charge similar to manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison, but was released on temporary bail by the same court.
Rupinder Singh Sandhu, Siddhu’s associate, charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the same incident, was also sent to prison.
Sidhu, a cricket commentator known for his wisecracks, said he would appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court on Friday.
”We have faith in the highest court of the land and so we are appealing tomorrow [Friday],” Siddhu said in Chandigarh as police escorted him to prison.
Sidhu dragged an elderly man out of his car and showered him with blows after a road accident.
The 43-year-old had previously been acquitted of the charges in 1999 by a lower state court. The case has been closely monitored as a test of India’s judicial system.
After the conviction, Sidhu resigned as an MP representing the Sikh holy city of Amritsar for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
He played 51 Test matches and 136 one-day internationals between 1983 and 1999. — AFP
