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1984 anti-Sikh riots: Two more held for mass killings in Kanpur
A special investigation team arrested two more people for mass killings and setting a house ablaze, in which three people were charred to death
A special investigation team of the Uttar Pradesh Police probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that claimed 127 lives in Kanpur arrested two more people for mass killings and setting a house ablaze, in which three people were charred to death, said a senior official on Tuesday.
The arrests were made from Ghatampur area and the number of those held by the special investigation team (SIT) after three years of probe has reached six. The SIT was formed by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government in 2019 on the orders of the Supreme Court to reinvestigate the pending cases related to the riots that had followed the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
The two arrested have been identified as Mobeen Shah, 60, and Amar Singh, alias Bhura, 61. They were produced before the court of the chief metropolitan magistrate, which remanded them into 14-day judicial custody, said deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Balendu Bhushan Singh, who is heading the SIT.
The duo had accompanied dozens of others in a couple of buses to reach Nirala Nagar for setting the house of one Gurudyal Singh on fire in 1984. There were 12 families residing at Gurudyal’s house as tenants and during the attack, three people were burnt alive while one of the rioters was shot dead in cross-firing, said the DIG.
Amar Singh is a history-sheeter from Ghatampur and about a dozen criminal cases are registered against him. He is also actively associated with the notorious Nanha Gang of the region, the DIG said. He and Mobeen Shah have been booked under Sections 396 (dacoity with murder) and 436 (Mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) of the Indian Penal Code.
The crackdown against the accused started on June 15 after the SIT held four prime accused —Vijay Narayan Singh, Yogendra Singh, Saifullah, and Abdul Rahman — from Ghatampur. “Efforts are being made to arrest all absconding perpetrators at the earliest. We have been investigating 11 cases after identifying 96 prime suspects exploring facts from witnesses settled in Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan. The SIT also found that 22 people have already died,” said the DIG.
