28 anti-Sikh riot cases reopened; to be probed by SIT

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) Ahead of Punjab Assembly polls,the Centre has decided to reopen 28 cases relating to 1984anti-Sikh riots and all these cases will be probed by aSpecial Investigation Team. The decision has been taken after examining variousaspects of the cases, which were either closed or did notproceed further due to lack of evidence. The SIT set up by the Home Ministry to re-investigateappropriately serious criminal cases filed in the NationalCapital Territory of Delhi relating to 1984 riots has furtheridentified 28 more cases for further investigation, anofficial order said. With this, the total number of cases to be re-investigatedby the SIT has gone up to 77. Out of the 650 cases registered in connection withanti-Sikh riots in Delhi, 49 cases were earlier identified forre-investigation by SIT on July 29. A total of 3,325 people were killed in the 1984 riots inwhich Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths, while the restoccurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra and other states. Delhi Police had closed 241 cases citing lack of evidence.Justice Nanavati Commission had recommended reopening of onlyfour of them but BJP wanted re-investigation of all the cases. The CBI had reopened and re-investigated only four cases.In two of them, the probe agency had filed a charge sheet andin one, five persons, including a former MLA, were convicted. The SIT was set up on February 12, 2015 following arecommendation by the Home Ministry-appointed Justice (retd) GP Mathur committee. The three-member SIT comprises two Inspector General-rankIPS officers and a judicial officer. On December 10, 2014, the Narendra Modi government hadannounced an additional compensation of Rs five lakh to thekin of each of those killed in the 1984 riots, triggered bythe assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi byher Sikh bodyguards. In May, the Home Ministry had announced that 1,020families, which had been hit by the riots and migrated toPunjab from different parts of the country, will be given Rstwo lakh each as part of a centrally-sponsored rehabilitationscheme. Assembly elections in Punjab are due early next year andthe 1984 anti-Sikh riots often becomes a political issue inthe state. PTI ACB KIS ZMNKIS