1984 riots: CBI says eyewitness' statement trustworthy

NEW DELHI: CBI today told a Delhi court that the complainant in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in which Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and five others are facing trial is an "eyewitness" to the killings and her statement is "trustworthy".

Advancing final arguments before District Judge J R Aryan, senior advocate R S Cheema, appearing for CBI, said complainant Jagdish Kaur had "seen the killings in front of her and she has neither changed her stand nor tried to exaggerate the facts in the court".

Kaur had lost her husband, a young son and three brothers during the riots.

"She saw her husband and son being killed by the mob in front of her eyes and she also lost her three brothers during the riots.

"She is a person of extra ordinary courage and memory who is doing everything to get justice. She is a witness of truth and has not changed her stand," the counsel submitted.

He said she had not attempted to name in her affidavits those persons whom she had not seen during the riots.

Sajjan Kumar is facing trial along with five others - Balwan Khokkar, Kishan Khokkar, Mahender Yadav, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal - for allegedly inciting a mob against the Sikh community in Delhi Cantonment area.

The case relates to anti-Sikh riots that had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

Advocate Anil Sharma, counsel for the accused, had earlier contended that there were several contradictions in the statements of the witnesses. The counsel had questioned the "conduct" of Jagdish Kaur.

Meanwhile, Jagdish Kaur and another witness Nirpreet Kaur moved an application in the court seeking for permission to bring two news articles of 1984 about Sajjan Kumar of 1984. They have also sought the court's permission to summon editors of the two English dailies.