Sikhs protest against Sajjan Kumar's acquittal

Sikh groups protested here Wednesday demanding stringent punishment for Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who was acquitted the day before in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Holding placards that read "Give justice to '84 victims" and "Hang the culprits who massacred Sikhs", the protesters gathered outside the Tilak Nagar police station in west Delhi, close to a resettlement colony of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims.

The protesters raised slogans against the Congress and Sajjan Kumar and demanded action against other accused in riot cases, including Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, blamed for instigating a mob that led to the murder of three men in a gurdwara in north Delhi Nov 1, 1984.

On April 10, a Delhi court ordered the reopening of the case against Tytler.

Sajjan Kumar was acquitted Tuesday by a Delhi court in a case related to the killing of five people in the Delhi Cantonment area during violence against Sikhs following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi Oct 31, 1984.

His acquittal came almost three decades after an estimated 3,000 Sikhs were killed in three days of riots in India's capital and elsewhere.