Jagdish Tytler has said the video is fake and he is open to an inquiry.
Highlights
- Akali Dal releases video, claims it shows Tytler bragging about riots
- BJP files police case against the Congress leader, calls for his arrest
- Tytler has vehemently denied role in riots that killed thousands of Sikhs
The BJP filed a complaint with the police on Monday demanding the arrest of senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, after a Sikh organisation released a video, claiming it shows him saying "I killed a 100 Sikhs". The BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD launched a scathing attack against Mr Tytler on basis of the video.
The video, which appears to have been recorded seven years ago, was released at a media conference on Monday evening by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. Its president Manjit Singh GK, who is also a leader of the SAD, told NDTV that an unknown young person had delivered the pen drive that contained the video, which is apparently the result of a sting operation. NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of the video.
Speaking to NDTV on phone, Mr Tytler said he was open to inquiry and called the video fake. "The Akalis are known to tell lies... Do a Narco test (narco-analysis) on me and the man who made the tape. I will take the Akalis and those who made the tape to court tomorrow," he said.
On Monday evening, BJP national secretary RP Singh met a senior police officer of Delhi and filed a complaint, reported news agency Press Trust of India. In a statement, the police said the complaint called for the "immediate arrest" of Mr Tytler and it demanded that he should be put on trial for murder and rioting.
Government records claim 2,800 Sikhs were killed in the violence that followed the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. Independent sources estimate the number at 8,000 including at least 3,000 in Delhi. Mr Tytler, who was accused of complicity in the riots, was given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation on three occasions. But the court had asked the agency to investigate the matter further.
In the video, dated December 8, 2011, a man the BJP claims is Mr Tytler, is also heard talking about getting two judges appointed and being promised a Rajya Sabha Seat and the chief ministership of Delhi.
Manjit Singh said they have given copies of the video to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Prime Minister's office and Enforcement Directorate. Calling the claims about the judicial appointment "disturbing", he said they will raise the matter in Parliament.
In a series of tweets today, SAD leader and Punjab's former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal also demanded Mr Tytler's arrest and called him a "genocide perpetrator". The tweets also demanded that a case be filed against the family of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for "hatching a conspiracy".