1984 anti-Sikh riots: SIT arrests 5 more for setting building afire in UP’s Kanpur; 27 held so far

Kanpur, July 20

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the mass killings during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots on Wednesday arrested five more people accused of setting a building afire in which three persons were burnt to death, a senior official said.

With the fresh arrests from Nirala Nagar in Kidwai Nagar, the SIT headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Balendu Bhushan Singh has in all arrested 27 people in connection with the violence that took place following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in Delhi.

The SIT, constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government on May 27, 2019, on the orders of the Supreme Court, has been probing the anti-Sikh riots’ cases for the last three years and efforts are on to nab more suspects, DIG Singh told PTI.

The team identified 96 people as prime suspects, of which 23 have died. Details of over three dozen suspects were gathered and it helped the SIT nab the 27 people, the officer said.

The five arrested men have been identified as Anil Kumar Pandey (61), Sriram alias Baggad (65), Mustaqeem (70), Abdul Waheed (61) and Irshad khan (60), all residents of Kidwai Nagar.

They have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) 396 (dacoity with murder) and 436 ((mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house), he said, adding that they had been sent to jail.

The DIG said the five men had allegedly accompanied dozens of others in a couple of buses to reach Nirala Nagar for setting the property of one Gurudyal Singh on fire in 1984.

Twelve families were residing at Gurudyal’s property as tenants and during the attack, three people were burnt alive. A rioter, identified as Rajesh Gupta, was also shot dead during cross-firing, he added.

“We have been investigating 11 cases after identifying 96 prime suspects exploring facts from witnesses settled in Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan. The SIT also found that 23 (people) have already died,” Singh said.

The crackdown against the accused started on June 15 after the SIT held four prime accused from Ghatampur, followed by two arrests on June 21 and five more arrests on June 23.

On July 6, the SIT had arrested four people, including two brothers, followed by four more arrests the next day. By July 14, 22 people had been held.