NEWDELHI: The CBI on Monday blamed Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and the Delhi Police, in a Delhi court, for inciting the mob that led to the killings in the capital’s Cantonment area during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Levelling the charges, CBI counsel R S Cheema told Additional Sessions Judge J R Aryan that the riots were not spontaneous; instead there was a well-planned and well-organised conspiracy backed by the government and police. “Sajjan Kumar went about inciting mobs and that the killings in the Delhi cantonment area, they were not spontaneous. This was a case where the police acted in a pre-planned manner and every policemen was keeping his eyes closed. People of a certain community were targeted and the riots were well-organised and backed by both the government and the police,” the CBI counsel said as it concluded the arguments.
He added: “There was a conspiracy of terrifying proportion with the complicity of police and patronage of local MP Sajjan Kumar.”
Saying the police tried to shield Kumar and others accused in the case, Cheema relied on the GT Nanavati Commission report.
“The fact that police has been trying to protect the Congress leader and downplay the incident is evident from police records which stated that no killing took place from Oct 31 to Nov 6, 1984, contrary to the GT Nanavati Commission report according to which 341 persons were killed, while 385 houses, 110 shops and 45 vehicles were burnt in the area,” Cheema said.
To buttress his arguments, the CBI counsel stated that three witnesses—Jagsher Singh, Nirpreet Kaur and Jagdish Kaur, who had also lost their family members during the riots, had identified Sajjan Kumar in the court. “The witnesses have deposed against the leader before the court and have identified him in person. This is a case which clearly shows conspiracy between Kumar and the Delhi police. Police was acting on the commands of Sajjan Kumar,” the counsel said.