Documents of ’84 Haudh-Chillar Sikh massacre reported stolen

Ludhiana, Punjab: Two unidentified persons allegedly stole some pictures and documents related to the Sikh massacres that reportedly took place in Haudh Chillar, Pataudi and Gurgaon of Haryana in 1984.

The burglary allegedly took place at the private office of Manwinder Singh Giaspura, a member of the Haryana government-appointed coordination committee to inquire into the massacres.

In his complaint to Focal Point police station, Giaspura alleged that two unidentified persons alighted from a car bearing a Haryana registration number and broke open the locks of his office at Baba Gajja Jain Colony in Moti Nagar.

The accused then decamped with important documents and pictures related with the massacres, he alleged.

During the Sikh riots in 1984, 32 Sikhs were reportedly killed in Haudh Chillar in Hisar, 17 in Pataudi and 47 in Gurgaon in Haryana.

Giaspura brought up the case in 2011.

Thereafter, members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the ministers from Punjab and Haryana governments had visited the spot and initiated investigation. The case has been sub-judice.

The complainant, a yarn trader, said he used his business office in Moti Nagar to hold meetings of the coordination committee and also kept all record of the matter in the office.

Talking to Hindustan Times, Manwinder said, “The office landlord informed me about the broken locks on June 12. I reached the office and found that the documents and pictures related to the case were missing.”

“The thieves did not touch anything else lying in the office. I fear that someone wants to hamper the investigation and therefore stole the documents. Later, I came to know that the accused, had come in a car bearing a Haryana number, and fled in the same car after executing the burglary,” he said.

” Though I informed the police on June 12 itself, but the police registered the case on June 15,” he alleged.

Inspector Gurtej Singh, station house officer (SHO), Focal Point police station, said a case under sections 380 (theft) and 454 (lurking, house trespass or breaking in to commit offence) of the IPC had been registered.

He said a manhunt had been launched to identify and arrest the accused.
This is the second such incident. On March 4, 2011, unidentified miscreants had struck at Giaspura’s house in Giaspura area and decamped with some record of the massacre. The case remains unsolved.

Source: HT