CBI today alleged before a Delhi court that senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar had incited the mobs that went on to target the Sikh community and their households and committed excesses during 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
"Sajjan Kumar gave an address inciting the mob to target Sikhs. He was leading in a jeep and others followed him in motorcycles. Only Sikhs and their households were specifically targeted while no Hindu house suffered mob fury," CBI counsel DP Singh told additional sessions judge Sunita Gupta.
Continuing the arguments on framing of charges against Kumar and others, CBI alleged such was the repercussion of Kumar's provocative speech that very few Sikhs persons were left alive in a particular locality during the riots.
Singh charged the former outer Delhi MP with a criminal conspiracy for "whatever happened in the locality of Sultanpuri", including the death of eight persons in the carnage that followed the assassination of the then Prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31.
Concluding the arguments, the CBI counsel read out statements of several prosecution witnesses, including that of Bhagwani Devi, Chand Kaur, Popli Kaur and Jatani Kaur, to buttress his arguments that the politician was responsible for the killings of their relatives.
"All the witnesses have maintained a consistent stand and assigned specific role to Kumar for the incidents," Singh said, claiming that they have given vivid details with regard to murder of their relatives and arson.
During the one-and-half-hour arguments, Kumar's counsel I UKhan and AK Sharma made interjections to claim the CBI counsel was not reading out full and complete statements of witnesses as most of them had already recorded their versions before the court in other cases and denied any role whatsoever of Kumar.
The defence counsel, who were asked by the court to start their arguments on framing of charges, sought time till Saturday for the purpose. Their plea was allowed by the judge.
CBI had filed two chargesheets against Kumar and others on January 13 in the riots cases registered on the recommendation of justice GT Nanavati Commission which inquired into the sequence of events leading to the riots.
The court had already ordered framing of charges against Kumar and others for the offences of murder, robbery and others during the riots at Delhi Cantonment here.
