The Hindu : New Delhi News : Retired cop testifies in riot case

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Thursday, Feb 07, 2008
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New Delhi

Retired cop testifies in riot case

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: A retired Delhi Police inspector on Wednesday recorded his testimony before a court here in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. An 83-year-old man, whose son was murdered in the mob violence, had testified in the case for the first time in 23 years.

Appearing before Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Kumar, retired Inspector Mam Chand, the investigating officer who was part of the Riots Cell of the Delhi police which takes care of the 1984 riots cases, said he was in a position to identify the accused. He told the court that while one of the accused, Ishwar Singh, was leading the mob, the other two accused Sajjan Singh and Jagdish Singh were part of the mob. However, he could not answer the prosecution’s question about alleged police inaction when the incident took place.

On November 1, 1984, Gurbaksh Singh was allegedly killed by the mob after being dragged out of his house at Paschim Vihar in West Delhi. His father Swarn Singh had left for Canada soon after the incident.

Mr. Singh had got summons related to the incident last December. In his testimony before the court, he said his son was dragged out of the house and killed by the mob. He also told the court that he could identify the accused.

In his testimony, Mr. Singh further alleged that the local police station’s SHO had passed by his residence in his official vehicle, accompanied by a police functionary but did not take any action. Mr. Singh had at that time tried to get an FIR registered but did not succeed. Later he submitted an affidavit to Justice Rangnath Mishra Commission in 1993.

The testimony of the inspector could not be completed on Wednesday. The hearing will continue on Thursday.

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