YOGI GOVT SETS UP SIT TO PROBE KANPUR 1984 ANTI-SIKH RIOTS

LUCKNOW:THE Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday constituted a four-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the 1984 anti-sikh riots in Kanpur, principal secretary, home, Arvind Kumar said.

The Supreme Court had ordered further investigation by the SIT in connection with the FIRS lodged at the Nazirabad police station, as well as other FIRS related to the riots in Kanpur, he said.

Former director general of police Atul (he goes by one name) will head the SIT.

Its other members are Subhash Chandra Agrawal (retired judge), Yogeshwar Krishna Srivastava (retired additional director prosecution) and a serving senior superintendent of police/superintendent of police (SSP/SP).

The SIT will have six-month tenure. It will examine the FIRS lodged during the riots in which the district police had submitted a final report.

The team will also examine the cases in which the accused had got relief from court. The cases of heinous crime will be examined on a priority basis, the official said.

The Rangnath Mishra Commission that investigated the riots puts the casualty at 127 while the Sikh community says more than 300 were killed. At least 4,200 shops and houses were burnt and more than 1,300 families were displaced during the riots.