Anti-Sikh riots advocate HS Phoolka receives death threat, says 'It won't distract me'

A judge from Delhi Court on Monday received a letter giving death threat to the senior counsel, representing the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, HS Phoolka.They immediately intimidated the advocate about the development. The Delhi Court magistrate Harjyot Singh Bhalla also directed the CBI to file a response in the matter related to the death threat by February 11. 

HS Phoolka reacts to the threat 

Reacting to the threats, Phoolka told a news agency, "These things would not distract me. During 35 year of fight, I have received such threats many times." 

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Developments in the case 

The Delhi court hearing the matter questioned the CBI for the delay in recording of the statements of controversial arms dealer Abhishek Verma, who is a witness in the case during the month of November last year. This was a subsidiary case in connection with the riots at Gurudwara Pulbangash in North Delhi where three people were killed on November 1, 1984. This took place a day after late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination. 

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As the CBI gave a clean chit to the Congress leader Jagdish Tytler regarding his involvement in the case, the court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to further investigate the matter. The victims had also filed a protest petition challenging the CBI's closure reports in the case. Following the developments, the court decided that the CBI must further investigate the matter and the court will also monitor it every two months to ensure that no aspect is left uninvestigated. 

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The agency had reinvestigated the case of the killing of Badal Singh, Thakur Singh and Gurcharan Singh near the gurudwara. This came after a court in December 2007 refused to accept its closure report. The CBI subsequently filed three closure reports in the case. 

(With Agency Inputs)

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