Mail Today
24 December 2008
Key witness in ’ 84 riots case testifies against Tytler in NY
A TWO- MEMBER CBI team on Monday recorded the statement of a key witness in the 1984 anti- Sikh riots case, who reiterated that he had seen former Union minister Jagdish Tytler instigate a mob to kill three Sikhs.
The CBI team is in the US to question two elusive witnesses against Tytler. Gurpatwant Pannu, the counsel for the two witnesses, said Giani Surinder Singh recorded his statement at the Indian consulate in New York.
The session went on for six hours and will spill over to the next day after which second witness Jasbir Singh’s statement will be recorded, Pannu added.
Jasbir and Surinder confirmed over phone that they are going to record their statements before the CBI. Surinder said he witnessed the killing of three Sikhs — Badal Singh, Thakur Singh and Gurcharan Singh. “ They were burnt alive in front of my eyes,” he said.
“ Inhan ne saadi ma maari hai, enhan nu maaro ( they have killed our mother so kill them)”, Surinder quoted Tytler as having said near the Pulbangash Gurdwara.
“ I will not retract my statement even if my head is chopped off. I stand by my testimony against Tytler,” Jasbir said.
The CBI said Jasbir and Surinder had indicated knowing details about the case and the involvement of some leaders. Both witnesses had expressed their inability to come to India so a team of CBI officers has gone to New York and San Francisco to record their statements.
Earlier, the CBI had told the Delhi court hearing the case that the witnesses were not traceable and the matter should be closed. However, the court had directed the sleuths to reinvestigate.
Both witnesses had deposed against Tytler in an affidavit filed before Nanavati Commission, which probed the 1984 riots and had found “ credible evidence” against Tytler. The commission’s report had stated that Tytler had a “ very probable” hand in organising attacks on Sikhs.
Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi
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