Three convicted in anti-Sikh riots, court slams police

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) A Delhi court on Saturday
convicted three persons for attempting to murder members of a
Sikh family during the 1984 riots and indicted the Delhi
Police and the state machinery saying their role at that time
"makes our heads hang in shame in the eyes of the world
polity."

Additional Sessions Judge Surinder S Rathi held Mangal
Sen alias Billa, Brij Mohan Verma and Bhagat Singh guilty of
attempt to murder, rioting, dacoity in Shastri Nagar in north
Delhi.

While deciding the case, the judge made a strong
indictment of the manner in which the Delhi police and the
state machinery had acted during the anti-Sikh riots.

"Even though we boast of being the world's largest
democracy and the Delhi being its national capital, the sheer
mention of the incidents of 1984 anti-Sikh riots in general
and the role played by Delhi police and state machinery in
particular makes our heads hang in shame in the eyes of the
world polity," the court said.

The anti-riots cell of Delhi police had probed the
incident in which one Joginder Singh and his two sons Jagmohan
Singh and Gurvinder Singh were seriously injured while their
house was burnt down by a mob led by the convicts on November
one, 1984.

The court is likely to pronounce its order on sentence
against the three convicts on August 29. PTI ATP
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