Anti-Sikh riots case: HC grants bail to Captain Bhagmal

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to 89-year-old retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case here.

A division bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Yogesh Khanna released Bhagmal on bail till July 4 on medical grounds and asked him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount.

Bhagmal, who is already on interim bail since March 24 on medical grounds, has sought three months' bail, saying has to undergo a surgery for enlarged prostate.

Along with former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, Girdhari Lal and two others, Bhagmal was held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984, in the wake of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

In May 2013, the trial court acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar but awarded life term to Bhagmal, Khokhar and Girdhari Lal and three-year jail term to two other convicts -- former legislator Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by two Sikh security guards on October 31, 1984, anti-Sikh riots broke out in different parts of the country, including Delhi.

--IANS

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