New Delhi: The killing of people in the Delhi Cantonment area during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots was the result of a well executed conspiracy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Monday as the agency finished its arguments in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the Delhi Cantonment area case. The CBI said that people belonging only to a certain community were targeted with the pattern and scale of operation indicating that the action wasn't a spontaneous reaction but a well organised operation, which had the backing of the police and patronage of the system.
According to the CBI the police were co-conspirators as the officials did not register cases and did not pick up dead bodies from the streets. The CBI referred to a speech senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar had made in Delhi's Raj Nagar where he incited the mob and said that not a single Sikh should survive and those sheltering Sikhs should be set ablaze.
The CBI also pointed out that police control room records don't have details of any of the major incidents of violence. In fact the police asked those residing in the Raj Nagar Gurdwara to surrender their weapons and hours later mobs came and attacked them. No damage to houses other than those of Sikhs were reported from the area.
The CBI cited eyewitnesses to prove that Sajjan Kumar took rounds of streets to incite people during the riots.
Earlier on Saturday, the CBI had told the court that the Delhi Police, acting in a pre-planned manner during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, kept its "eyes closed" to the violence.
CBI counsel RS Cheema said the city police "deliberately" did not act the way it was supposed to. "This was a case where the police acted in a pre-planned manner and every policemen was keeping his eyes closed," Cheema had told Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) JR Aryan.
He had said about 150 complaints were made regarding the riot incidents but only five FIRs were registered by the police.
The lawyers of Sajjan Kumar will reply in the case against him and five others, on May 15, 16 and 17. The Delhi Police will also put forward their arguments in the case. They are likely to argue that the CBI's claims are delayed and that there is no documentary evidence to prove the allegations. The case is likely to be concluded by July end.
Anti-Sikh riots broke out in several areas of the country after the then prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in Delhi. Thousands of Sikhs were massacred during the riots.
Six Sikhs were allegedly killed in Delhi Cantonment area during the riots. The case against Sajjan Kumar was registered in 2005 on a recommendation by Justice GT Nanavati Commission. The CBI had filed two charge sheets against him and other accused in January 2010.
The trial court had in May 2010 framed charges against Sajjan Kumar and five others under Sections 302 (murder), 395 (dacoity), 427 (mischief to cause damage to property), 153-A (promoting enmity between different communities) and other provisions of the IPC.
The Delhi High Court had earlier asked the trial court to expeditiously dispose of the case.
Sajjan Kumar is facing prosecution in three separate cases in which he has been accused of inciting a mob against the Sikh community during the 1984 riots.
(With additional information from PTI)
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