1984 Delhi Sikh Genocide - Affidavits

Affidavit submitted before the Nanavati Commission

I, Gurbachan Kaur W/o Late Sh. Faqir Singh aged 64 yrs. R/o 14/39B, Tilak Nagar, New Delhi-18, do hereby solemnly affirm and declare as under:-

1. That during Nov.'84, I used to live in the first floor of house no. 2176, Gali No. 1, Chuna Mandi, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi, along with my husband, my 5 sons out of which one was minor and one daughter, one daughter in law and her two minor infant daughters. One of our relatives named Mr. Narinder Singh was also staying with us during those days.

2. a. That my husband was a known social worker in West Pakistan. In 1947 at the time of partition of the country he led a seven miles long caravan of refugees from West Pakistan to Indian border and thus saved thousands of human lives.

b. That in 1962 during Indo-China War my husband offered himself for the defence services.

c. That my husband served with Delhi Transport Undertaking for many years and used to donate his one day's salary every month for the defence services of India.

d. That he was deputed as Special Police Officer of the Police Station, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi, by the Delhi Police.

e. That my husband holds the certificate of "Sewa to Prime Minister."

f. That my husband offered himself and his sons for Kargil War to the Prime Minister for defence services.

3. That in the second floor of the said house my husband's younger brother Late Amir Singh used to live along with his family members comprising of himself, his wife, 3 sons and 2 daughters out of which 2 sons were minor.

4. That in Oct./Nov. 1984, my 3 sons were studying one in B.A., second in 7th standard and third in 2nd standard and my daughter was in 5th standard.

5. That at about 8 am on 1st Nov.'84, we heard a lot of noise coming from outside. The noise comprised of shrieks, cries etc. from the outside.

6. That my husband's brother Late Amir Singh shifted to our neighbour's house on 1st Nov.'84 with his family and afterwards we were informed about the story of burning of M/s Sahni Paint House by the mob, but we remained confined to our house.

7. That on the morning of 3rd Nov.'84, we started getting the threatening phone calls that "we will kill you all today." Immediately we called Police but no action was taken. After sometime Late Amir Singh and his family came back from the neighbour's house.

8. That on 3rd Nov.'84, my husband called the military and after sometime my son Amrik Singh also went to call the military. The military and police came there and we went with them to the P.S. Pahar Ganj in the military jeep and also to Amir Singh with his family. In the Police Station there were large number of Sikhs, who were staying there. We stayed in the Police Station till 5th Nov. 1984. In the morning of 5th Nov. '84, we were told by the police that all was peaceful and we should go back to our house. We as well as my brother in law Late Amir Singh's family came back to our respective houses.

9. That on the ground floor of our building we had two shops, but neither we nor my brother in law had yet started any work in the shops. Mohalla / Colony people knew that the shops were being vacant.

10. That on 5th Nov. '84, at about 6:30 pm we found unknown people collecting near our house. We got scared. My husband had a telephone at his residence. He telephonically informed Police Station Pahar Ganj. Mr. Dev Raj 2nd SHO of P.S. Pahar Ganj, came along with some constables. He told my husband and his brother that he had posted seven constables and home guards outside our house and nothing was going to happen.

11. That on 5th Nov.'84, at about 7 or 7:30 pm the mob started pelting stones at our house and broke window panes. My husband saw from the window and told us that his brother Amir Singh was chased by the mob and he had run towards the nearby TCI building to save himself. My husband had a licensed fire arm in house. My husband opened fire in the air to scare away the mob.

12. That when my husband opened fire, the mob retreated. After a short while the military arrived there. Seeing the military, my husband stopped firing and did not fire after that. It is relevant to note here that the second floor of our house was only partially constructed. There were two rooms and one bathroom on the second floor. Both, the latrine and the bathroom on the second floor were open from above and there were no roof over them. Further more no staircase had been constructed on the second floor for the purpose of reaching on the terrace of the two rooms.

13. That, however, we heard firing from outside which was probably by the military. The firing continued for sometime.

14. That after the firing stopped, the military and the police took all of us out of the house and made us sit on the road. We saw that one of the policeman was beating Mr. Narinder Singh, my relative, with lathis and asked him also to raise his hands. After sometime all of us including women, minor children and infants were made to sit in a truck and we were taken around for more than one and a half hour. We were taken to the P.S. Darya Ganj in the late night. By that time the injured Narinder Singh had bled profusely.

We all requested that he be taken to the hospital. Whole of my family including my infant grand children aged 11/2 year and 6 months only and whole of my brother in law's family remained in the lock up throughout the night. During the midnight my husband was taken away by the police. In spite of many requests made, we were not even provided milk for the children who were crying with hunger. Even at the Police Station we were kept in the same cell with our family i.e. men and women were together in the same cell. There was no ladies police in police station at that time. We all were not given food for two days. When we use to ask the police for drinking water we were told to drink the urine of our husbands.

When on 6th Nov.'84 at about 3.30 pm we were taken to the Court in a police truck, my husband also joined us. He was having several injuries on his person. When inquired about the injuries he told that the police had severely beaten him. He also named the police officer Kanth, who beat him mercilessly. He also disclosed me that Amir Singh has been killed and requested me not tell about Amir Singh's death to Amir Singh's family. After appearing before the Court at Tis Hazari our three minor children were confined/detained in the Children home and we were sent to Tihar Jail. Even at jail we were not supplied with food and milk for infant children. It was only on the morning of 7th Nov. we were given food in the jail.

15. That we all remained in the jail till 14th Nov.'84.

16. That Narinder Singh remained hospitalized till 23rd Nov.'84 and ultimately succumbed to his injuries on 23rd Nov.'84 in the hospital.

17. That the police registered a false case against us that we were firing at the police and military and that my brother in law Late Amir Singh and Narinder Singh were killed in an encounter with the military.

18. That Wazir Singh my husband's brother took the photographs of Late Amir Singh which clearly showed that he had injuries on his head and all over the body. There was no bullet mark on the body. S. Wazir Singh, Gurpal Singh and our other relatives who had cremated Amir Singh also told us that there was no bullet mark on his body.

19. That the police had also got published a false story in the newspaper that the police had arrested the terrorist who was firing on the military and police.

20. That it is pertinent to note that while granting us bail, the Ld. Additional Session Judge A.B.Andley vide order dated 12-11-84, stated that:

"Heard. The allegations in the case are that a mob attacked the house of the applicants in which firing took place from the side of the applicants / add. as a result of that firing 2 persons Mangal and Krishan Bahadur died. From the side of the add. one Amir Singh also died at the spot while add. Narender Singh is lying in the hospital in the critical condition with multiple injuries. The prosecution upto this stage has not been able to explain how Amir Singh could die and Narender Singh could sustain so much injuries if the house of the add. was not attacked by a mob.

Thus prima-facie add. persons apprehend danger to their lives or at least danger of grievous injury to them. In these resorting to firing though not knowing as to who might be so killed. In view of these circumstances, I direct that the accd persons be released on bail on their entering upon the bonds in the sum of Rs.7,000/- with one surety each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Ld. MM concerned. They shall appear before the SHO of P.S. concerned for further investigation as and when called for."

21. That even after the Court held that the accused had fired in air in self defense as stated in above para. CFSL report came on 30-04-85 in our favour the Government gave President Awards to two Delhi Police Officers for arresting the terrorists.

22. That it is noteworthy that the police and the military killed Narender Singh on the road while he was in their custody and also meted out such brutal treatment to us including family members and implicated us in the false case. But still the abovesaid Police Officers, instead of being punished, were given awards.

23. That two policemen who were given President's award by the Government are:-

i. Mr. Amod Kanth, who was at that time Dy. Commissioner of Police (Central) and now Joint Commissioner of Police.

ii. Mr. S.S. Menon, who was at that time SHO Pahar Ganj Police Station and now an ACP.

24. That according to the allegations made by the police, two persons Mangal and Krishan Bahadur were killed by us. However, later report of the Central Forensic & Scientific Laboratory came and as per the finding of the CFSL, deceased Mangal as well as Krishan Bahadur were not killed by our bullets. On these grounds the prosecution filed applications to withdraw the cases against us and vide order dated 8-12-88 the Ld. Additional Sessions Judge S.P. Singh Choudhury held that in view of the report of the CFSL that the bullets recovered from the body of the deceased Mangal and Krishan Bahadur were not fired from the arms recovered from the accused, permission to withdraw the cases was given. The said order reads as under:-

"Judgment:-

The above named 15 accused persons have been sent up by the police of P.S. Pahar Ganj for their trial U/Sc 147/149/307/302/120 IPC and Sec. 28 of the Arms Act. These accd. Persons were charged by my ld. Predecessor Mohd. Shamia U/Sc 147/120B IPC, 307/120 IPC and 302 IPC read with Sec. 120B IPC and accused Avtar Singh and Sukh Chain singh were charged U/s 27 of Arms Act and accd. Faqir Singh was also charged U/s 28 of the Arms Act read with Sec. 120-B IPC and accd. Faqir Singh was also charged U/s 27of Arms Act on 21-3-87.

2. After that the APP moved an application on 28-7-87 alleging that the Delhi Administration has decided to withdraw from the prosecution on the ground that the CFSL report does not support the prosecution case; that as per opinion of the Expert, the bullets recovered from the body of the deceased Mangal dass and Kishan Bahadur were not fired from the arms recovered from the accused; that this report has ruled out the injuries being caused to the deceased by bullets fired from the arms recovered from the accused persons.

3. It has been prayed in the application that in the interest of justice and public interest , permission to withdraw the case be given to the prosecution. I have heard both the parties and perused the record.

4. In view of the request of the APP and in the circumstances of this case, the permission to withdraw the case is granted and all the accd. Persons nos. 1 to 14 mentioned here above are hereby acquitted, and as regards accd. No. 15, Ranjit Kaur is concerned, she had already died during the pendency of the case, and here the case against her is abated.

Sd/-

(S.P. SINGH CHAUDHARI)

ADDL. SESSIONS JUDGE;DELHI"

25. That though the report of the CFSL was received as early as on 30-04-85 but the Government continued to pursue the case against us and harass and humiliate our entire family including women and minor children for three years.

26. That inspite of CFSL report which was received in April, 1985 and subsequent judgment of the Ld. ASJ in 1988, no action whatsoever has been taken against the guilty police officials so far, rather they were given awards.

27. That it is evident from the above facts and circumstances that Amod Kanth and S.S. Menon were awarded for killing innocent persons and for also allowing one person to be killed by the mob and also implicating our entire family in a false criminal case.

28. That the abovesaid police officials namely Mr. Amod Kanth and Mr. S.S. Menon are guilty of murdering Narinder Singh and implicating us in fake criminal cases and treating us in most inhuman and brutal manner as stated above.

29. That for the criminal acts of the abovesaid police officer namely Mr. Amod Kanth and Mr. S.S. Menon, the President Medals awarded to them is not desirable and these person deserve to be stripped of these Medals.

30. That for the inhuman harassment, torture and agony our entire family is entitled for compensation.

31. That I have learnt that in the year 1997, Gurcharan Kaur widow of Late Amir Singh filed a case before the SDM (Pahar Ganj) vide (Ref. No. SDM (PG) 97/967) complaint No. SS (KB)/RN/97/08/3221/2549, dtd. 23/7/97, for claim death compensation of Rs. 3.2 lakh on a/c of killing of her late husband. In the claim Gurcharan Kaur her proved that Late Amir Singh was killed by violent mob and that no firing was done from the terrace of our house and that the mob had attacked our house and thus she got Rs.3.2 lakh as compensation on the death of her husband.

32. That after filing of affidavit by Tirlok Singh son of Late Amir Singh, before this Hon'ble Commission Amod Kanth is still making statements in the Press claiming that we are terrorist and that we have been released by the Court on compassionate grounds. These statements by Amod Kanth are calculated move to defame us and add insult to the injuries suffered by us. Press statements of Amod Kanth are annexed as ANNEXURE – 'A'.

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