New Delhi: Seven anti-Sikh riot cases from 1984 will soon be reopened after Union Home Ministry set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to undertake the matter. These are cases where the accused were either acquitted or the trial closed.
After the notification became public, Delhi MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said senior Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath had allegedly given shelter to five people who were accused in one of the seven cases.
"Nath was never named in the FIR registered in New Delhi's Parliament Street police station. Five persons named as accused in the case (FIR No. 601/84) were accommodated in Nath's residence. All these accused were discharged due to lack of evidence.
"Since the SIT will reinvestigate this case also, two witnesses will appear before the SIT where they will tell about Kamal Nath's role in the riots," Sirsa said.
The witnesses were Sanjay Suri, who now lives in England, and Mukhtiyar Singh, who is now in Patna, he said.
"I have spoken to both of the witnesses and they are ready to appear before the SIT to record their statements," Sirsa said.
The case is related to a mob of rioters storming the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib here.
Nath had previously denied the charges.
According to the Home Ministry notification, the SIT has taken up the discharged cases for scrutiny or preliminary enquiry.
The seven anti-Sikh riot cases were registered in 1984 at police stations in Vasant Vihar, Sun Light Colony, Kalyanpuri, Parliament Street, Connaught Place, Patel Nagar and Shahdara.
The SIT has so far re-opened around 80 out of the 650 cases registered in connection with anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Gandhi was shot dead by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
The Delhi Police had closed 241 cases citing lack of evidence. The CBI had reopened and re-investigated only four cases. In two of them, the probe agency had filed a charge sheet and in one, five persons, including a former MLA, were convicted. Last year, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life for his role in the anti-Sikh riots.
A total of 3,325 people were killed in the riots in which Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths, while the rest occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states.
(With inputs from PTI)
