Operation Bluestar commander Lt Gen Kuldip Singh Brar, who survived 8 attempts on his life, in which the last one was a pre-planned attack, he told a London court. Details of last September’s knife attack on Brar in central London have begun to emerge in Southwark Crown Court after British detectives charged a group of five Sikhs with plotting to cause 'serious harm' to the holidaying retired soldier.

Four men carried out the assault on the 78-year-old general on the night of September 30 after being tipped off by the fifth member of the group – a woman who had been following Brar and his wife.

Two of the men, Mandip Sandhu, 34, from Birmingham and Dilbag Singh, 37, from London, as well as the woman, 39-year-old Harjit Kaur, appeared in court on Tuesday.

Two other men – Barjinder Sangha, 33, who has already admitted to the crime, and another who has never been arrested – were also allegedly involved in the attack launched to avenge the 1984 army crackdown on Sikh separatists inside Amritsar’s Golden Temple.

In an interview with NU a day after the attack, Brar said he fought off his attackers despite his advanced age, adding, 'If I hadn’t resisted they would have succeeded.'

They were tracked down, Darlow told the court, after a mobile phone belonging to one of the assailants was found at the scene and handed in to police.