“Jagdish Tytler came out of the car and instigated the mob to first kill Sikhs…” an eyewitness reportedly recounted to the Central Bureau of Investigation as per the agency’s chargesheet against the Congress leader in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. CNN-News18 has accessed a copy of the chargesheet.
The eyewitness quoted above was a shopkeeper whose establishment was burnt down in the anti-Sikh riots in November 1984 following then prime minister Indira Gandhi assassination by her Sikh bodyguards.
“Jagdish Tytler came out of his white ambassador car and started instigating the mob. He instigated the mob to first kill Sikhs and then asked them to loot their shops,” the chargesheet quotes the eyewitness as saying.
The document also includes a statement by the son of the Congress leader’s driver.
The CBI has contended in the chargesheet that “sufficient material is available on record to show that Jagdish Tytler was a part of the unlawful assembly committing rioting that had assembled near Gurudwara Pul Bangash. This unlawful assembly violated the prohibitory orders, instigated, incited and provoked the mob to kill Sikhs.”
Three people were killed and a gurdwara was set ablaze in the Pul Bangash area of the national capital on November 1, 1984, a day after the then prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
A city court had on July 26 summoned Tytler on August 5 after taking cognisance of a May 20 chargesheet filed by the CBI in the case.
While seeking the relief, Tytler’s lawyer had told the court his client was anticipating arrest and he should be granted bail. “The exact time of the crime was not ascertained by the probe agency and multiple closure reports were filed in the case… Delhi Police twice and CBI once said nothing was found against Tytler,” Tytler’s advocate Manu Sharma told the court.
He said the CBI, after having filed a closure report in the case, submitted a charge sheet against Tytler on the basis of the statements of some new witnesses just 11 months before the Lok Sabha elections. “CBI filed closure report several times in the case and opposed the protest petition too. CBI had given a clean chit while filing charge sheet in 2007 and 2014,” he said.
He also pointed out that the CBI did not arrest Tytler during the entire investigation. “The witnesses included after 25 years cannot be trusted. Tytler is not a flight risk. He is the age of 79 and having medical issues,” the Congress leader’s counsel told the court.
During the hearing, the CBI had opposed Tytler’s application.
“The witnesses have come forward showing great courage and the possibility of influencing them cannot be ruled out. As per the statement of new witnesses, prima facie the role of Jagdish Tytler appears…,” the CBI said.
The agency has invoked charges under sections 147 (rioting) and 109 (abetment) read with 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), among others, against Tytler.
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