Headlines
Government sets up SIT set up to probe 1984 riots
New Delhi, Feb 12
The government Thursday set
up a Special Investigation Team for fresh investigation into serious
criminal cases relating to 1984 anti-Sikh riots, it was announced here.
In
a series of tweets, the official Press Information Bureau said that the
committee will be headed by IPS officer Pramod Ashthana and will submit
its report in six months.
"Govt. constituted Special Investigation Team for investigating/re-investigating the cases of 1984 riots."
"SIT
will re-investigate the appropriately serious criminal cases files in
Delhi in connection with 1984 riots and have since been closed," the PIB
tweeted.
It said the SIT will file a charge sheet against the
accused in the proper court where after investigation, sufficient
evidence is found available.
"SIT shall examine also the files of
Justice J.D. Jain and Shri D.K. Agarwal Committee for a thorough
investigation of criminal cases," the PIB said.
It said that while Ashthana will head the SIT, Rakesh Kapoor and Kumar Gyanesh will be its members.
The SIT has been constituted following a recommendation by Justice (retd) G.P. Mathur panel.
The
panel, in its report submitted to the home ministry last month, had
favoured reinvestigation in cases where crucial evidence may have been
overlooked.
The riots followed assassination of the then Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi and over 2,700 people are estimated to have been
killed in Delhi. There was violence in other parts of the country also.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Shiromani Akali Dal have demanded re-investigation into anti-Sikh riot cases.
The
49-day Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi had also announced a SIT to
reopen and investigate cases which were closed by police and were never
sent for trial to the court.