‘Butcher of Trilokpuri’ set free; AIISF rushes to court

Karnail Singh Peermohammad,president,AISSF,said that commuting Lal’s sentence would amount to another injustice to the victims of 1984 Sikh massacre. “The PIL will be based on the ground that commutation and release of such a hardened criminal,who murdered several Sikhs including three brothers Darshan Singh,Amar Singh and Nirmal Singh,by cutting them into pieces with his hatchet,will pose a threat to the safety of the witnesses who testified against him,” Peermohammad said.

“Commuting the sentence of Kishori Lal who murdered several sikhs in cold blood would amount to another injustice to the victims of November 1984 Sikh massacre. Kishori Lal’s sentence is commuted at time when victims of November 1984 are fighting against the Clean Chit given to Jagdish Tytler and are trying to get Sajjan Kumar convicted,” remarked Peermohammad.

In a statement issued from California (USA),Mohinder Singh who allegdly saw his father Darshan Singh a resident of Trilokpuri,being killed by Kishori Lal,said,“Commutation of Lal’s sentence is bitter injustice and it has brought back the tormenting memory of how my father was butchered. We are fighting to get justice for the last 27 years and with this decision,we have lost all faith that victims of 1984 riots will ever get justice in India.”

Mohinder Singh is one of the plaintiffs against Congress (I) and Union Minister Kamal Nath in the ‘November-1984 Sikh Genocide’ case filed by Sikhs For Justice,a human rights advocacy group,which is pending before the US Federal Court.

Meanwhile,the AISSF also announced to hold a “Justice Rally” on February 16 in Delhi in association with National 1984 Victims Justice and Welfare Society to protest against the commutation of Lal’s sentence.

Lal,a former butcher who stayed in east Delhi’s Trilokpuri,had been accused of stabbing victims in the neighbourhood. He had been sentenced to death seven times by the lower courts. The Supreme Court,later,commuted them to life terms. Lal was among 25 people,convicted by city courts for offences connected to the 1984 riots,and has spent around 16 years in jail.

Kishori Lal (48),lodged in Tihar Jail since 1996,will soon be a free man. Lal,convicted of multiple murders in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi,is serving life term.