1984 anti-Sikh riots: Sajjan Kumar surrenders before Karkardooma Court.
Former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar surrendered today before Karkardooma Court authorities in New Delhi to undergo life imprisonment awarded to him in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The Delhi High Court on December 17 found Sajjan Kumar guilty in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and sentenced to jail "for the remainder of his natural life". Mr Kumar was convicted in the killing of five members of a family in Raj Nagar and the torching of a gurdwara in Delhi on November 1, 1984. At least 3,000 people were killed in the riots. Sajjan Kumar, a former MP from Delhi, is the first big leader of the party to be convicted.
Here are the live updates:
- Court directs Sajjan Kumar to be sent to Mandoli jail in northeast Delhi.
- Court has rejected Mr Kumar's plea to be lodged in Tihar jail.
- Court allows Sajjan Kumar's plea for security.
- He will be taken to jail in separate vehicle.
Sajjan Kumar surrenders in Delhi's Karkardooma court.
Sajjan Kumar likely to surrender later in the day, says news agency Press Trust Of India
Both Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar have surrendered. Court accepted their surrender application. Mahender Yadav has been allowed to carry his walking stick and spectacles by the Court: news agency ANI.
1984 anti-Sikh riots convicts Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar arrive at Delhi's Karkardooma Court to surrender, according to news agency ANI.
Sajjan Kumar, who was awarded life sentence by Delhi High Court in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, to surrender before Karkardooma Court or Tihar jail authorities today.
- The 73-year-old was in the Congress for over four decades.
- In the last few years, he had been sidelined by the party over allegations that he had led blood-thirsty mobs targeting Sikhs in Delhi after the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
- Sajjan Kumar's first election victory was as a municipal councilor in 1977.
- He won his first Lok Sabha election from the Outer Delhi constituency and retained it in two subsequent elections.
- In 2009, the Congress refused to field him as a candidate, accused by the BJP of "shielding" its 1984 riots accused leaders.