1984 anti-Sikh riots: Death sentence to one convict, other gets life term

New Delhi: In the first capital punishment in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, a Delhi court on Tuesday awarded death penalty to one of the two convicts found guilty of killing two Sikh men. The other convict will spend life in prison, the court added.

Yashpal Singh was awarded death penalty while his co-convict in the case, Naresh Sherawat has been sentenced for life.

Both the convicts were fined Rs 35 lakh each.

On November 14, the court had convicted Yashpal Singh and Naresh Sherawat for killing Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh in south Delhi’s Mahipalpur during the 1984 riots.

The verdict pronounced in the Tihar Jail due to security concerns and attack on the convicts on the premises of the Delhi court.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed in 2015 probing the 60 cases it had reopened out of the total 293, succeeded in getting conviction in the first case last week.

The Delhi Police had closed the case in 1994 for want of evidence. However, a SIT on the riots reopened it.