1984 anti-Sikh riots: CBI files charge sheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler

The CBI on Saturday filed a charge sheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the Pul Bangash case of killing of three persons and torching of a gurudwara during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, officials said.

Tytler “incited, instigated and provoked the mob assembled at Pul Bangash Gurudwara Azad Market” on November 1, 1984 that resulted in burning down of the gurudwara and killing of three Sikhs — Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Gurcharan Singh — the CBI alleged in its charge sheet filed before a special court in New Delhi.

The agency has invoked charges under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148, 149 (unlawful assembly), 153A (provocation), 109 (abetment) read with 302 (murder), 295 (defiling of religious places) among others. The court will take cognisance of the charges on June 2, they said.

Accused of inciting the mob

Former Union minister Tytler was accused of inciting a mob that murdered the victims. However, the CBI filed three closure reports which were rejected by the special court. The agency had recently collected voice samples of Tytler, who was named in the Nanavati Commission report that probed the riots.

Also read: 1984 anti-Sikh riots: Justice delayed and denied, convictions few and far between

The case pertains to the riots at Gurudwara Pul Bangash in north Delhi, where three people were killed on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards at her official residence.

Arms dealer Abhishek Verma, who is facing a CBI probe in a number of cases, had claimed that Tytler had paid money to one of the witnesses of the riots and settled his son in Canada.

It had taken nearly three years for the CBI to conduct a polygraph test of Verma on December 4, 2018, despite orders of the court issued in 2015.

Immediately before his scheduled lie-detection test by the CBI, Verma claimed to have received a threat letter, after which he sought increased police protection.

Also read: 1984 anti-Sikh riots: SC refuses to grant interim bail on health grounds to Sajjan Kumar

Protest petition by victims’ families

Meanwhile, the CBI had approached Canada, seeking evidence. The families of the victims had filed a protest petition challenging the CBI’s closure reports in the case.

The court had in December 2015 directed the CBI to further investigate the matter and said it would monitor the probe every two months to ensure that no aspect is left uninvestigated.

In 2018, sting videos were released by Manjit Singh GK who claimed to have received them by post from a Delhi-based businessman. The agency had reinvestigated the case of killing of Badal Singh, Thakur Singh and Gurcharan Singh near the gurudwara.

(With Agency inputs)