Congress leader Jagdish Tytler instigated a mob to attack a gurdwara in Delhi where three Sikhs were killed, the Central Bureau of Investigation alleged in its chargesheet, ANI reported on Saturday.
The agency has accused Tytler of involvement in an incident from November 1, 1984, when a mob set Delhi’s Gurdwara Pul Bangash on fire. Three persons – Sardar Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Gurcharan Singh – were burned to death in the incident.
Large-scale riots had broken out in Delhi on October 31, 1984, following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, who was then the prime minister, by her Sikh bodyguards. Mobs, allegedly helped by some Congress leaders, had attacked Sikhs and torched their homes. Nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed in Delhi alone.
The chargesheet, filed on May 20, quoted witness statements as saying that the Congress leader boasted about having “killed 100 Sikhs” and complained that “only nominal killing of Sikhs” took place in his constituency as compared to other parts of the city, according to The Indian Express.
The Central Bureau of Investigation said that as per witness statements, Tytler approached the gurdwara in his white Ambassador car, and provoked the mob to attack it and then engage in looting.
A witness also told the agency that on November 3, 1984, Tytler rebuked a group of people that his instructions had not been faithfully carried out. “He [Tytler] said his position has been greatly compromised… Tytler said least number of Sikhs have been killed due to which he has been put to shame,” the witness statement read. “He also said there has been only nominal killing in his constituency compared to East and North Delhi, Delhi Cantt…”
The Central Bureau of Investigation said there was enough evidence on record to show that the Congress leader was part of an unlawful assembly that provoked a mob to kill Sikhs at the Gurdwara Pul Bangash.
A Delhi court on Saturday told the agency to furnish a copy of the chargesheet to Tytler.
On Friday, the court had granted him anticipatory bail in the case. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand on Saturday accepted his bail bond.
The case will be heard next on August 11.
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