1984 riot victims seek Amod Kanth`s prosecution

A group of 1984 Sikh riots` victims has approached Delhi Lt. Governor Tejendra Khanna to lodge a case against former Indian Police Services (IPS) officer Amod Kanth.

New Delhi: Aggrieved by the actions taken against them during and after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a group of victims has now approached Delhi Lt. Governor Tejendra Khanna to lodge a case against former Indian Police Services (IPS) officer Amod Kanth.

In a letter to the lt. governor, the victims urged him to take action against the then deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Amod Kanth and the then Paharganj station house officer (SHO) S.S. Menon for involving innocent persons in false cases.
The letter was written by Amrik Singh Lovely, one of a group of victims who were harassed and implicated by these police officers.

Lovely last year also approached the Delhi High Court, which had asked him to approach an appropriate court as it was not the appropriate forum to deal with the case.

The letter demanded from the lt. governor that necessary action be taken to withdraw the President`s Medal of Kanth.

Singh, in his letter, recounted that a mob had collected outside his Paharganj residence Nov 5, 1984, a week after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

When the mob attacked his uncle Amir Singh, the petitoner`s father Faqir Singh fired from his licensed gun. In a short while, a joint contingent of the army and the police, the latter being led by Kanth, arrived on the scene, Singh said.
He claimed that the police, instead of taking steps to contain the mob, rounded up his family members, including a six-month-old baby, and jailed them in the Daryaganj police station.

The 16 members were allegedly kept in the lock-up for a night before the police registered a case against them under several sections of the Arms Act and the Indian Penal Code, including murder.

IANS

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