1984 riots: Pul Bangash victim’s wife deposes against Tytler

The wife of a victim in north Delhi's Pul Bangash Gurdwara case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots on Thursday deposed before a Delhi court against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler.

Special Judge Rakesh Syal recorded the statement of Lakhwinder Kaur, the wife of Badal Singh who was one of the three men killed by a mob that torched the gurdwara during the riots.

In her statement, Kaur said an eyewitness told her that Tytler had come to the place of the incident in a vehicle and incited a mob.

Kaur told the court that she met Surender Singh, who worked as a granthi in the gurdwara in 2008, who described the incident to her.

"Surender Singh told me that he saw the incident from the roof of the gurdwara. He told me that he saw my husband Badal Singh exiting from the gurdwara and saw him being attacked by a mob who took out the kirpan of my husband and stabbed him to death using it. He also told me that Tytler had come to the place of the incident in a vehicle and that he had gathered everyone,” she told the court.

She added that Surender Singh told her that the mob engaged in violence upon the incitement of Tytler and her husband's body was put in a cart after he was killed and burnt by placing burning tyres on top of him.

She, thereafter, approached the court for investigation, Kaur said.

Tytler's counsel opposed the deposition stating that the account of the granthi was hearsay and not admissible as evidence.

The court rejected this claim and adjourned the matter for October 15.