Kanpur, June 23
An SIT probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases has arrested five more people, who were part of the mob that torched a house during the violence, in which 127 people were killed.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has so far arrested 11 people in connection with the violence that followed the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
New arrests were made on Wednesday. The Uttar Pradesh government had set up the SIT three years ago to re-investigate cases related to the riots.
The five arrested have been identified as Kidwai Nagar residents Ravi Shankar Mishra (76), Bhola Kashyap (70), Jaswant Jatav (68), Ramesh Chandra Dixit (62) and Ganga Baksh Singh (60).
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Balendu Bhushan Singh, who is heading the SIT, said he was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court, which remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.
He said he was charged under sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 396 (robbery with murder) and 436 (mischief with fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) of the Indian Penal Code, he said. A case has been registered under
The DIG praised the 17-member police team for playing a key role in nabbing the accused and announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 for it.
The DIG said that efforts are being made to arrest all the absconding people at the earliest.
The action against the accused had started on June 15 when the SIT arrested the four main accused from Ghatampur. A few days back, the SIT had arrested two people.
DIG Singh told PTI that the SIT was constituted by the state government on May 27, 2019, on the orders of the Supreme Court and it has been probing the anti-Sikh riots for the past three years and efforts are on to nab more suspects.
The SIT had earlier identified 96 people as prime suspects, of whom 22 have died.
He said that complete information was collected about 21 suspects and this has helped the SIT to nab 11 so far.
The DIG said those arrested had gone to Nirala Nagar in 1984 with a mob to set ablaze the house of a man named Gurudayal Singh.
Twelve families lived as tenants in Gurudayal’s house and three people were burnt alive during the attack.
He said one of the rioters, identified as Rajesh Gupta, was also shot during the cross-firing.
The DIG said, “We are probing 11 cases after identifying 96 prime suspects by fact-finding witnesses based in Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan. The SIT also found that 22 people have already died.” ”