Sultanpuri case: Sajjan booked for murder,rioting

In 2002,a trial court had acquitted Sajjan Kumar and others in the Sultanpuri case saying the CBI had failed to prove the case. The CBI claimed Sajjan Kumar led a mob of 300 to 400 to a park in B-2 block on the morning of November 1 and led the mob that damaged the C-block gurdwara and set other properties on fire.

The CBI had taken up the case on the recommendations of the Justice Nanavati Commission in 2005 and filed two chargesheets against the leader and others in January this year. The other accused,Brahmanand Gupta,Peru,Khushal Singh and Ved Prakash,have also been charged for murder,arson and rioting among others.

However,the court will first complete evidence in the Delhi Cantonment case which was also heard on Wednesday. The CBI believes it has a strong case against Sajjan and others as they have four core witnesses lined up to testify in court. Among the witnesses are Jagdish Kaur,who lost five members of her family,including her sons and husband,and Nilpreet Kaur,who joined the Khalistan movement after she lost her father in the riots and became a militant.

On July 3,Jagdish Kaur told the court she had seen Sajjan Kumar provoking the mobs to kill Sikhs in the area. She also identified Sajjan Kumar’s nephew Balwant Khokkar,Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal as those who helped the Congress leader incite the mobs.

However,Jagdish Kaur’s cross examination has not finished as she couldn’t go to the court on Wednesday because of high blood pressure. She was taken to the Ganga Ram Hospital and discharged later in the day. She will appear in court on Thursday.

However,another witness,Lal Chand Khemani,turned hostile on Wednesday,saying he had never purchased Jagdish Kaur’s house. He had bought the house in 1993 from one Surinder Kumar,but the sale deed clearly mentioned that Surinder had purchased the house from Jagdish Kaur,who later moved to Punjab with the surviving members of her family. “This shows people are scared to depose about even something written in the sale deed,” said H S Phoolka,the advocate representing the riots victims.

Previously,the defence counsel had said Jagdish Kaur’s statements had many inconsistencies. But Kaur refuted the allegations saying she had made the same statements before all authorities concerned.

The court is hearing the case on a daily basis after the Delhi High Court directed that trials in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases should be completed within six months.