New Delhi: A defense witness in a 1984
anti-Sikh riot case on Monday told a Delhi court that CBI was
putting pressure on him to say that he had seen senior
Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and two other co-accused
indulging in riot activities.
Kumar is facing trial relating to the killing of six
persons by a mob in Delhi Cantonment area during the riots.
The witness produced by Kumar to support his innocence in
the riot submitted before Additional Sessions Judge Sunita
Gupta that when CBI official Manoj Pangarkar had come to his
house, he had told him that he had not seen the senior
Congress leader and would not take his name for his
involvement in the case.
"He (Pangarkar) was trying to put pressure on me to name
Sajjan Kumar but I told him that when I had not seen him how
can I name him? He told me whether I was scared to name him
but I told him that I am a government servant and therefore I
am not scared," Baldev Raj Khanna said.
74-year-old Khanna, a retired senior superintendent from
Central Ordinance Depot, said he was asked by the CBI official
to make a statement against three accused in the case
including Kumar, former city councilor Balwan Khokkar and
Mahender Yadav.
"Pressure was put upon me repeatedly to think again and
again and that I should not be scared to name him (Kumar). But
I told him (Pangarkar) that I am not scared but since I have
not seen him, I cannot name him", he said.
He said that about four years ago, he had received a
letter from CBI and was asked to visit the agency`s office
within 10 days.
When he expressed his inability to appear before it due
to his bad health, Pangarkar came to his house to inquire
about the riots, Khanna, a Raj Nagar-II resident, said.
PTI
