Patiala, Sept. 18 -- Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death-row convict in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him that the Centre should take an immediate decision on his mercy petition, which has been pending for the last 15 years.

In his letter, Rajoana, who is lodged in Patiala Central Jail, said he had spent 31 years in prison, including the last 20 years facing the prospect of execution while waiting for a final decision on his case.

He said he had never concealed his actions before the court and had willingly accepted the death sentence.

Rajoana said that after a death warrant was issued against him in 2012, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ...