New Delhi: A key witness, who lost her five
family members in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots here on Saturday
identified in a court senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar as a
person who had instigated the mob during the carnage.
Jagdish Kaur, the witness who was cross-examined today by
the defence counsel before the court of Additional Sessions
Judge Sunita Gupta, also identified Sajjan's nephew Balwant
Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal as accomplices.
The defence counsel, who started cross-examining Kaur
after recording of her statements was completed, pointed out
several inconsistencies in the riot victim's testimonies
before various authorities from time to time.
However, Kaur refuted the allegation of being
inconsistent, saying she had made the same statements before
all authorities, be it Nanavati Commission, CBI or the
magistrate in Punjab.
"They (authorities) said that they would take only those
statements on record which are found relevant," she said.
The cross-examination of the witness will continue on
Monday.
Kaur had yesterday accused the police of taking sides
with rioters in 1984 and turning a blind eye to the riots.
She lost five family members, including her husband,
in the riots that had followed the assassination of Indira
Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
The court had on May 28 framed charges of murder and
spreading enmity between two communities against Kumar in the
riots case, saying there are sufficient grounds for presuming
that the violence was due to a "well-planned conspiracy" in
Delhi Cantonment area.
CBI had filed two chargesheets against Kumar and others
on January 13 in the riots cases registered in 2005 on the
recommendation of Justice G T Nanavati Commission which
inquired into the sequence of events leading to the riots.
The court began recording of statements of prosecution
witnesses in the Delhi Cantonment area case.
In a separate case, the same court had decided to
frame charges against the leader and others on July 5 in
connection with the killing of six persons at Sultanpuri area
in north-west Delhi.
Besides the Congress leader, CBI is seeking
prosecution Brahmanand Gupta, Peru, Khushal Singh and Ved
Prakash.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, July 04, 2010, 00:15