Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung gives consent to AAP govt's move to form SIT to probe anti-Sikh riots

Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has given consent to AAP Government's recommendation for a probe by a Special Investigation Team(SIT) into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots here, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.

The Delhi Government last week had recommended to Jung to set up a SIT to probe the anti-Sikh riots within a time frame of one year. "The Lt Governor has given his nod to it (SIT probe)," Kejriwal told reporters.

The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader earlier met Jung in the morning. PWD Minister Manish Sisodia said besides reopening of FIRs, the SIT would also inquire into allegations of destruction of evidence by police. He said under the SIT probe, all those cases which were closed or shown untraced would be re-opened, re-investigated and if the need arises fresh FIRs would be registered.

The decision to form the SIT to investigate the riots which left around 3,000 Sikhs dead following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, was slammed by Delhi Congress. DPCC Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely said the decision was aimed at wooing the Sikh community by AAP ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

The government had recommended to Jung to bring police officers from outside Delhi for conducting the inquiry. Delhi Government's decision to form SIT came against the backdrop of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi admitting that some of the partymen were probably involved in the violence. Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar are facing allegations of involvement in riots after Indira Gandhi was gunned down on October 31, 1984.