Kamlesh Kumar Pathak, the government-appointed Special Public Prosecutor for the riot cases, said trials have commenced in 5 of the 11 cases. (File image)Of the 1,251 cases linked to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Kanpur, which had claimed at least 127 lives in the district, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Uttar Pradesh government identified 40 cases as particularly serious. Chargesheets had been filed in 11 cases, while closure reports were submitted in the remaining 29.The team reopened 20 of those 29 cases for further investigation, uncovering fresh evidence in 11 and initiating action against the accused. In the other 9 cases, no new evidence emerged and closure reports were filed again.In 2023, the team concluded its probe into all 11 cases, identifying the involvement of 96 persons. Of them, 22 had died. It filed chargesheets against the remaining 74 accused, all aged above 60 years, after arresting them.The chargesheets invoked serious offences including murder, dacoity with murder, and arson with intent to destroy property using fire or explosives.On Tuesday, the Allahabad High Court dismissed petitions by seven of the accused seeking quashing of the chargesheets and proceedings against them, calling the nature of incidents similar to “genocide”.The single bench of Justice Anish Kumar Gupta observed, “The nature of the incidents was like a genocide against a particular community in which various innocent persons were killed, ablazed alive, house and properties were burnt, destroyed and looted (sic).”It further said, “Such a large scale crime, committed against humanity gone unnoticed and in almost all such cases, the final reports were submitted in a hurried manner to save various accused persons who were involved in the incident.”Story continues below this adKamlesh Kumar Pathak, the government-appointed Special Public Prosecutor for the riot cases, said trials have commenced in 5 of the 11 cases, with witness testimonies currently being recorded. Proceedings in the remaining cases are expected to start soon, added Pathak, although courts have stayed trials in a few instances. He added that most accused have secured bail.In February 2019, the four-member SIT was set up under former UP Director General of Police Atul. It included retired district judge Subhash Chandra Agarwal and former Additional Director General (Prosecution) Yogeshwar Krishna Srivastava as members, while then Superintendent of Police (now retired) Balendu Bhushan Singh was appointed member-secretary.Acting taking suo motu cognisance of requests raised in a petition before the Supreme Court on the riots, the state government had directed the SIT to review the cases and, where warranted, carry out further investigation under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.The SIT constituted dedicated teams of police officers. To piece together the cases, it referred to multiple sources, including affidavits submitted before the Ranganath Mishra Commission set up in 1986 by the then Congress-led central government to probe the riots in Delhi, Kanpur and Bokaro. Inputs from a report prepared by an NGO also helped the agency identify those allegedly involved, an official said.Story continues below this adThe SIT was initially given a six-month mandate to complete its probe, but the tenure was extended repeatedly at its request. A majority of cases under review pertained to the Kidwai Nagar and Naubasta police station areas.With little prospect of securing scientific evidence in cases dating back nearly four decades, sources said, the SIT relied largely on oral testimonies. “All the accused whose involvement was established during the investigation and are still alive have been arrested,” said Bhushan.During its probe, it recorded statements of more than 1,000 witnesses, including 174 eyewitnesses, across the 11 cases. Witnesses who had relocated outside Kanpur were brought to the city to depose before a magistrate. The team also travelled to Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to trace witnesses and record their statements.The SIT made its first arrests in June 2022, nabbing four men for their alleged role in the killing of three persons in Nirala Nagar on November 1, 1984.Story continues below this adIn August 2022, one of the accused in the triple murder case, Dhirendra Kumar Tiwari, died at a government hospital in Kanpur after being shifted from jail when he complained of chest pain. He had been lodged in Kanpur district jail since his arrest on July 12.The SIT said the arrests were made primarily on the basis of testimonies provided by victims’ families and local residents.