1984 Delhi Sikh Genocide - Affidavits

Affidavit submitted before the Nanavati Commission

I, Avtar Singh Diwan S/o Late S.Faqir Singh, aged 42 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 the following family members:-

i. S. Faqir Singh – Father (who died on 30-10-99)

ii. Mrs. Gurbachan Kaur – Mother

iii. Amrik Singh - Brother, then aged 24 yrs.

iv. Amarjeet Singh – Brother, then aged 18 yrs.

v. Sukhchain Singh – Brother, then aged 16 yrs.

vi. Sukhdev Singh – Brother, then aged 12 yrs.

vii. Ranjit Kaur – Sister, then aged 13 yrs.

viii. Narinder Kaur – Wife, then aged 26 yrs.

ix. Sonia - Daughter, then aged 1 ½ yrs.

x. Monia - Daughter, then aged 6 months.

One of our relatives named Mr. Narinder Singh was also staying with us during those days.

On the second floor of H.No.2176, Gali No.1, Chuna Mandi, Pahar Ganj, N.D.-55, my Chacha (Father's younger bother) Late S.Amir Singh, used to live along with the following family members:-

i. Mrs. Gurcharan Kaur W/o Late S.Amir Singh

ii. Tirlok Singh S/o S.Amir Singh, then aged 21 yrs.

iii. Mohinder Singh S/o S. Amir Singh, then aged 12 yrs.

iv. Ajit Singh S/o S.Amir Singh, then aged 11 yrs.

v. Ravinder Kaur D/o S.Amir Singh, then aged 19 yrs.

vi. Balwinder Kaur D/o S.Amir Singh, then aged 18 yrs.

2. That my father 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.

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

ii. That my father 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.

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

iv. That my father holds the certificate of "Sewa to Prime Minister."

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

3. That at about 8 am on 1st Nov.'84, we heard a lot of noise coming from outside. We saw violent mob raising anti Sikh provocative slogans roaming freely on the roads who were destroying / damaging / looting / burning the shops of Sikhs. We were highly scared and confined ourselves inside the house to avoid detection by the rampaging mob. However, my Chacha Late S. Amir Singh shifted to our neighbour's house.

4. That on the morning of 3rd Nov.'84, we started getting threatening anonymous phone calls saying that "we will kill you all today." Immediately we rang up the Police Station, Pahar Ganj, but there was no response. After sometime Late S.Amir Singh and his family came back from the neighbour's house.

5. That on 3rd Nov.'84, my father called the military and after sometime I also went to call the military. The military and police came there and they took all of us including Late S.Amir Singh and his family along with them to the P.S. Pahar Ganj in a military vehicle. In the Police Station there were large number of Sikhs, who had taken shelter there.

6. That all of us stayed in the Police Station till 5th Nov. 1984. In the morning of 5th Nov. '84, we were told by the police that the situation was peaceful now and that it would be safe if we go back to our house and remain there as the situation was under control. Upon this categorical assurance by the police, all of us including the family of Late S.Amir Singh came back to our respective houses.

7. That on the ground floor of our building we had three shops, but these were lying vacant and the local people knew about it.

8. That on 5th Nov. '84, at about 6:30 pm we noticed some unfamiliar persons collecting around nearby our house. From their strange posture and gestures we got scared as it appeared that these group of persons intended to attack us. Apprehending grave danger to our property and person, my father telephoned Police Station Pahar Ganj, and informed about the surreptitious movement of the above said group of persons. On being so informed, Mr. Dev Raj 2nd SHO of P.S. Pahar Ganj, along with some constables came to our house. He assured us of full protection and told us that he had posted seven constables and home guards outside our house and nothing was going to happen.

9. That on 5th Nov.'84, at about 7 or 7:30 pm the above said group of persons which had by then swelled into a mob, started pelting stones at our house and broke windowpanes. My father saw from the window and told us that his brother Amir Singh was being chased by the mob and he had run towards the nearby TCI building to save his life. My father had a licensed firearm in house and he opened fire in the air to scare away the violent mob, which was bent upon attacking and killing all of us.

10. That when my father fired in air in self-defence from his licensed weapon, the mob retreated to some distance but continue to raise anti Sikh slogans and shouting to kill all of us. After a short while the military arrived there. Seeing the military arriving at the sight we heaved a sigh of relief thinking that now the military will rescue us from the mob and the culprits will be apprehended and brought to book. My father stopped firing immediately at the sight of law enforcement agencies.

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.

11. That, however, we heard some firing from outside which was probably by the military / police and the same continued for sometime.

12. That after the firing stopped, the military and the police came inside the house and took all of us out of the house and made us sit on the Chuna Mandi road. There we saw that one of the policemen was beating Mr. Narinder Singh, my relative, with lathis. After sometime all of us including women, minor children and infants were made to sit in a military 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 Narinder Singh was bleeding profusely.

We all requested that he be taken to the hospital. Our entire family including infants aged 11/2 year and 6 months only and whole of the family of Late S.Amir Singh remained in the police lock up throughout the night. Despite the effect that the infants were crying due to hunger, milk was not provided to them. 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 fathers. My father was badly beaten and tortured by the police at the Police Station as a result of which he suffered many injuries on his person.

13. That on 6th Nov.'84 at about 3.30 pm we were taken to the Tis Hazari Courts. Thereafter, the court sent three minor children were sent to children home and the remaining family members were sent to Tihar Jail in judicial custody. Myself, my father S.Faqir Singh and my 2 brothers namely Amrik Singh and Amarjeet Singh were confined in Solitary Cells in the Tihar Jail where we remained for one week.

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

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

16. That the police registered a false case against all our family members including women, unmarried girls, minors and children. The police fabricated a story that we were firing indiscriminately on people including police and military and that we had killed one army man and one from the public by firing from our firearms. The police allegedly recovered one air gun and four firearms from us. It is relevant to mention here that the firearms allegedly recovered from us were all licensed weapons and our those family members in whose names the license had been issued, had taken these licensed weapons with them to the Police Station, Pahar Ganj where we were taken by the police on 3-11-84, as stated above.

The police further alleged falsely that we were apprehended while firing at the police and military and that Late S.Amir Singh and Narinder Singh were killed in an encounter with the military / police. The police created false evidence and procured false witnesses to implicate us falsely in the said case in FIR No. 1349/84, u/s 147/148/149/307/302/120B IPC and 28/54/59 Arms Act, P.S. Pahar Ganj.

17. That the police had also got published a false story in the leading newspapers / magazines claiming that they had arrested us while firing on the military and police. The police had characterized all our family members including women, unmarried girls, minor and children as "terrorists".

18. That it is pertinent to note that while granting us bail, the Ld. Additional Session Judge K.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."

19. That the report of the CFSL came on 30-04-85, when the above stated false and fabricated case was pending trial in the court. The said CFSL report clearly stated that the bullets recovered from the body of the deceased Mangal and Gurung Krishan Bahadur (an army man), were not fired from the arms recovered from our family members. This report was sufficient to demolish the entire false case of the police / prosecution. Despite the receipt of the CFSL report dtd. 30-04-85, the case continued for till 08-12-88, when on the basis of the report of CFSL the prosecution sought permission to withdraw the case. S.P. Singh Choudhary, the Ld. Additional Session Judge perused the record of the case including the CFSL report and vide his judgment dtd. 08-12-88, all of us were acquitted. A copy of judgment is annexed as ANNEXURE – A.

20. That despite the order dtd. 12-11-84, by A.B. Andley, Ld. Additional Session Judge (as given in para 19 above) and the report of the CFSL dtd. 30-04-85, the Government gave President Awards to 2 police officers for arresting the terrorists. These two policemen who were decorated with Presidential Awards were:-

i. Mr. Amod Kanth, who was at that time Addl. Dy. Commissioner of Police and thereafter had been promoted to Joint Commissioner of Police.

ii. Mr. S.S. Menon, who was at that time SHO Pahar Ganj Police Station and thereafter had been promoted as ACP.

21. That from the above it is evident that Late S.Amir Singh was killed by the mob and Narinder Singh died while in police custody. It is also evident that deceased Mangal (a public person) and Gurung Krishan Bahadur (an army man) died due to firing by military / police. These facts are established from the record of the case including CFSL report.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

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

26. 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.

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

Back to Affidavits list

Guide To Discover Sikhism |   Guide To Becoming A Pure Sikh|   Guide To Carrying Out Nitnem