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New Delhi: A Delhi
court Wednesday started recording statements of six people accused
in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in which former Congress MP Sajjan
Kumar has also been booked.
Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta recorded the statement of
former councillor Balwan Khokhar, one of the six accused. He said
he was not present at the spot where a mob killed five Sikhs in
Delhi Cantonment Nov 1, 1984.
Balwan Khokhar, who was asked several questions by the judge, gave
very short answers.
After recording his statement in an hour-long hearing, the court
decided to continue the hearing Thursday.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the
accused instigated a mob in Delhi Cantonment to kill Sikhs
following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira
Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards at her 1, Akbar Road residence in
New Delhi Oct 31, 1984.
The CBI has so far examined 16 witnesses in the case. The
prosecution completed tendering its evidence June 9. Three
witnesses deposed against Sajjan Kumar and identified him in the
court.
Besides Balwan Khokhar and Sajjan Kumar, the other accused in the
case are -- Krishan Khokhar, Mahender Yadav, Captain Bhagmal and
Girdhari Lal.
The court May 28 last year, framed charges against all the six
accused under penal provisions relating to murder, dacoity,
conspiracy, promoting enmity between two communities, mischief by
fire or explosives, and house trespass.
Charges under provisions for abetment were also framed against
Sajjan Kumar.
During the 1984 communal riots, hundreds of Sikh community members
were massacred in Delhi and other cities in a backlash against the
community after Indira Gandhi's assassination.
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