Tytler caught off-guard by witness, calls it a ploy

New Delhi: Delhi Congress leader Jagdish Tytler on Thursday disputed the identity of Jasbir Singh, the witness who had linked him to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and dismissed the latter's claims as a conspiracy to harm him.

Jasbir Singh, who had earlier given statements to various media about Tytler's involvement in the riots in Delhi, was declared as 'untraceable' by the CBI in an affidavit filed before the Karkardooma court in New Delhi on Thursday. This had virtually exonerated the Congress leader in the riots case.

However hours after the CBI filed the affidavit, CNN-IBN traced Jasbir Singh in California.

Talking to CNN-IBN, Jasbir was unequivocal in his claims that Tytler was indeed involved in the riots. “I saw Jagdish Tytler, he was instigating the mob in my area, where most of the Sikhs were murdered,”he claimed

Tytler, however, dismissed these claims, calling it a ploy to discredit him. "There is no such person as Jasbir Singh. Many commissions have probed my role before, but no affidavit has been filed against me, Tytler said.

The CBI earlier on Thursday had told the court that it had ‘no evidence’ or ‘witness’ to establish Tytler's complicity in the riots. "We don’t have any evidence or witness to file a case against Jagdish Tytler,” the Central investigating agency told the court in its affidavit.

HS Phulka, the lawyer representing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, however claims the CBI watrying to muffle the voice of the riot victims.

In his interview to CNN-IBN, Jasbir Singh also claimed that the CBI never tried to establish any contact with him. "The CBI did not contact me at all,” he said. “It’s been 18 years. No court or commission called me for my testimony.”

"Had they contacted me, I could have given them my testimony,” he says.

Jasbir also claims that instead of the CBI, it was Tytler’s supporters who hounded him all the while and even threatened him and his family. “I was threatened a lot of times,” he said. “I and my family received threats constantly. I still get calls from the people of Jagdish Tytler. They want me to write and say that he is innocent.”

“Nathuram Nagar, a Congress party councillor, called me 5-6 months back, asking me to take back my statement,” Singh alleged. This was after the numerous statements Singh had given to various media.