Punjab: Victim’s wife testifies against Jagdish Tytler

Punjab: The wife of a victim in the Pul Bangash Gurdwara case in north Delhi linked to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots on Thursday testified against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a Delhi court. Special Judge Rakesh Syal recorded the statement of Lakhwinder Kaur, wife of Badal Singh, who was one of the three people killed by the mob that set the gurdwara on fire during the riots. Kaur said an eyewitness told her that Tytler had come to the spot in a vehicle and instigated the mob. Kaur told the court that she had met Surender Singh Granthi, who worked as a granthi at the gurdwara, in 2008, who told her about the incident.

“Surender Singh told me that he saw the incident from the roof of the gurdwara. He told me that he saw my husband Badal Singh coming out of the gurdwara and saw him being attacked by the mob, who took out my husband’s kirpan and killed him with it. He also told me that Tytler had come to the spot in a vehicle and had gathered everyone,” she told the court. She further said that Surinder Singh told her that the mob resorted to violence at the instigation of Tytler and after her husband was killed, his body was put in a vehicle and burnt by placing burning tyres over it. Kaur said she then approached the court for an inquiry.