Sajjan involved in murder during '84 anti-Sikh riots: CBI

The CBI, today, alleged before a Delhi court that senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was involved in the murder of people during 1984 anti-Sikh riots by giving provocative speeches, a charge vehemently denied by him.
   
"Sajjan Kumar addressed a meeting after which the crowd identified the houses of Sikh community, looted it and killed the people, thereby creating mayhem all over the locality," CBI counsel D P Singh submitted before Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta.
   
Initiating arguments for framing of charges in a case relating to the death of six persons, the counsel charged the former outer Delhi MP with leading a group of rioting mob riding on a motorcycle in the riots that followed the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, on October 31, 1984.
   
The CBI counsel, who referred to a place in a site plan from where leader allegedly addressed the crowd during the riots, was strongly opposed by Kumar's counsel I U Khan and A K Sharma.
    
The defence counsel accused the CBI lawyer of misleading the court by alleging that the probe agency did not have the statement of any witness who saw Kumar addressing the mob from the particular place at Sultanpuri here.
    
"Do you have statement of any witness to support your contention? You cannot say anything before the court at your convenience," they submitted before the court, which intervened to pacify the tempers from both sides.
    
During the brief arguments for 30 minutes, the CBI counsel read out a statement of prosecution witness and complainant Joginder Singh whose brother Surjeet Singh was killed allegedly by the rioting mob after dragging him from their house on the fateful day in the riots.
    
"We want to prosecute Kumar for the murder of Surjeet. The trial relating to murder of Surjeet had never taken place. The accused conspired to murder him," he submitted.
    
This argument of the CBI counsel was opposed by the defence counsel who alleged Singh was, again, misleading the court.
    
The matter was adjourned for tomorrow after the CBI counsel sought time to file a list of witnesses' and their statements which would be referred to by him during the arguments.