Ex-Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, jailed for murder during ’84 anti-Sikh riots, dies

Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life over the killing of five members of a Sikh family during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

2 min readUpdated: Aug 20, 2026 03:51 PM IST

1984 Sikh riots accused Sajjan Kumar dies in Delhi

Sajjan Kumar was convicted by the Delhi High Court in 2018. (File Photo)

Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died in Delhi on Thursday, his lawyer said. The 80-year-old was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital, where the doctors declared him dead, authorities said.

Kumar was convicted by the Delhi High Court in 2018. Kumar, who was a Congress leader, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a case pertaining to the killing of five members of a Sikh family during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Kumar was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity, and acts against communal harmony. More than 2,700 Sikhs were confirmed killed in the four-day violence in Delhi, which followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.

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ALSO READ | Why former Cong MP Sajjan Kumar was convicted of murder during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots

In 2025, he was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of leading a mob that burned alive one Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984. He was also found guilty of looting and destroying their houses.

Earlier in January, Kumar was acquitted in a case related to inciting violence at Janakpuri in Delhi, for which an FIR was lodged in 1992, during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He was the only accused in the case.

A separate FIR had been filed over the alleged killing of two men, Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh, in Vikaspuri. A joint chargesheet covering both cases was filed in 2022. In 2023, Kumar was discharged in the Vikaspuri case, in which he had faced a murder charge.

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The FIRs were registered following a 1990 review of cases related to the riots by a committee headed by Justice J D Jain and former DGP D K Aggarwal. The cases were later taken up for reinvestigation after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed in 2015 to probe serious cases linked to the violence. The reinvestigation eventually led to the chargesheet being filed.

Tabshir Shams

Tabshir Shams covers health for The Indian Express. He holds a Master's degree in International Relations from South Asian University. Before joining The Indian Express, he interned at The Hindu from December 2025 to June 2026, where he assisted in the research and editing of a book on delimitation published by The Hindu Group Publications. During this time, he also wrote for The Hindu's Text & Context section, on subjects ranging from Pakistan's military establishment to Bangladesh's elections, and reported a Spotlight feature on a jute mill in Samastipur and its ripple effects on labour migration and the local economy. In July 2025, he interned at The Indian Express, where he wrote several explainers on international relations alongside a health report. His Master's thesis examines civil-military relations in Pakistan, with a focus on the post-2019 period. ... Read More

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