New Delhi (TIP)- The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted to re-investigate the anti-Sikh riots in Kanpur following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, will send a team of three sub-inspectors and three constables to Punjab. The team will gather statements and further investigate some of the witnesses.
If needed, witnesses will be brought to Uttar Pradesh and their statements recorded again, officials told India Today TV. Arrests will be made soon on the administration’s orders after the statements are recorded. The SIT has identified 67 accused in 11 cases so far. The SIT has handed over the list of the accused to the government. And they will be arrested as soon as the order is received, they said.
127 Sikhs were killed in Kanpur in the riots of 1984. 40 cases were registered in Kanpur Nagar for murder, robbery and dacoity. The police had submitted the final report in 29 of these cases. Earlier, the SIT had recorded statements and searched the archives by meeting members of the victims’ families in different states. In these cases, 146 rioters were identified, of whom 79 are dead. Although, of the 67 alive, nearly 22 are over the age of 75 or are suffering from serious diseases, the officials added.