'Missing' witness of 1984 rocks RS

The case of a key 1984 anti-Sikh riots witness who was declared "untraceable" by the CBI but has been freely accessible to the media, echoed in Parliament on Friday.

The case of a key 1984 anti-Sikh riots witness who was declared "untraceable" by the CBI but has been freely accessible to the media, echoed in Parliament on Friday. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad sought a detailed statement from Minister of State for Personnel Suresh Pachouri on the issue.

CBI had given a clean chit to former union minister Jagdish Tytler in the case relating to the massacre of thousands of Sikhs following Indira Gandhi's assassination, saying Jasbir Singh, a "crucial witness", was abroad and could not be contacted.

Hindustan Times, however, spoke to Singh over the phone. Singh said he had been willing to depose against Tytler for a long time, and would've done so if CBI had guaranteed his security. "I was constantly threatened after I gave an affidavit describing Tytler as one of the leading conspirators and mastermind of the 1984 massacre," he told this paper.

Hindustan Times broke the story in its November 3 edition under the headline 'Witness wants to expose Tytler'. After reading our report, several other media organisations followed up, and managed to speak with Singh. On Thursday, a city court sought Singh's US address.

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