The SIT probe is the first-ever investigation in Uttar Pradesh into the violence against Sikhs in 1984. After Delhi, Kanpur had seen the worst rioting with 127 killed.
36 years after the anti-Sikh riots took place in Kanpur following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, on Tuesday, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) unlocked a house in the city to collect evidence, including human remains.
Businessman Tej Pratap Singh, 45, and son Satpal Singh, 22, were killed in the house in Govind Nagar area on November 1, 1984, and their bodies were burnt. The family members who survived moved first to a refugee camp, and then to Punjab and Delhi, selling off the house. The new owners of the house never entered the two rooms where the killings took place, and the investigation team found them practically untouched.
The SIT probe, set up by the Yogi Adityanath government, is the first-ever investigation in Uttar Pradesh into the violence against Sikhs in 1984. After Delhi, Kanpur had seen the worst rioting with 127 killed.
With Tej Singh’s wife, and another son and daughter-in-law leaving Kanpur, an FIR had been lodged in the case by a Sub-Inspector against unidentified persons, under IPC Sections 396 (dacoity with murder), 436 (mischief with intent to destroy house, etc) and 201 (destruction of evidence).
On Tuesday, the SIT entered Tej Singh’s former house with forensic experts in the presence of an eyewitness to the incident who lives in the same area. Superintendent of Police and SIT member Balendu Bhushan told The Indian Express that officials of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) had determined that the samples collected were human remains.
“Since the crime scene was not disturbed, we called an FSL team. It has been established that murders took place at the spot,” Bhushan said.
The new occupants of the house reportedly stayed only on the first floor, keeping the rooms on the ground floor associated with the killings locked, not even entering them for cleaning.
On Wednesday, the SIT also got the statement of Tej Singh’s surviving son Charanjeet Singh, now 61, recorded before a magistrate. Charanjeet lives in Delhi with his wife and family. Tej Singh’s wife died a couple of years ago.
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As per the SIT probe, on November 1, 1984, a mob had forced its way into Tej Singh’s house and caught him and Satpal, as other family members hid themselves. After killing the two, they had robbed the house.
Bhushan said, “Charanjeet witnessed the incident from where he was hiding. In his statement, he told the names of the people involved in the murders.”
The Adityanath government had tasked the SIT with re-examining 1,251 cases filed following the riots. It had shortlisted 40 for further investigation. Of these 40, the Kanpur Police had filed a chargesheet in 11 and closure report in the rest 29 cases.
Of the 29 cases where closure reports were filed by police, the SIT is reinvestigating 19. It could not probe the remaining as it could not find any evidence in them. Sources said that in nine of the cases, the complainants and witnesses refused to come forward.
As part of its investigations, SIT teams travelled to states such as Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh to meet witnesses and record their statements.
(Inputs from The Indian Express)
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