Two were murdered in a Kanpur house during 1984 Sikh riots, SIT returns to find culprits after 36 years

A couple of rooms in a house in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur were kept closed for 36 years as they hid the proofs of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 that erupted in the city in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The rooms, in the house inhibited by a family, were opened on Tuesday by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Yogi Adityanath government to re-look into the matter, reports the Indian Express.

The rooms in the house that previously belonged to a businessman named Tej Pratap Singh were almost untouched as the new owners didn’t go into them. Tej Pratap and his son were killed by a mob in 1984. Later, the remaining members of Tej Pratap’s family left the city and moved to Delhi.

This is the first-ever probe into the anti-Sikh riots at any place in Uttar Pradesh. Kanpur had seen 127 deaths during the riots.

The forensic team confirmed that human remains have been found in the rooms where Tej Pratap and his son were killed and burnt.

The SIT has launched an investigation and talked to various victims and witnesses in states like Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. They want to find the people from Kanpur who filed affidavits before the Ranganath Mishra Commission set up by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1986.

The SIT was tasked by the state government to re-examine 1,251 cases filed after the riots. Out of which the SIT shortlisted 40 for further probe.