Ex-Congress MP Sajjan Kumar Dies At 80; Was Serving Life Sentence In Tihar Jail For Role In 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots

Former Congress Member of Parliament Sajjan Kumar passed away at the age of 80 on Thursday, while currently incarcerated in Tihar Jail for his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. According to reports from ANI, Kumar was transported to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The 80-year-old, who was once a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress, is no longer with us.

Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital received Kumar's lifeless body, with sources confirming the news via ANI's Twitter account. The hospital provided visual evidence of Kumar's arrival through their photojournalism team. Kumar's conviction stemmed from two cases directly tied to the 1984 riots, including the murder of five Sikhs in Delhi Cantonment's Palam Colony and the arson of a gurdwara.

On December 17, 2018, the Delhi High Court sentenced him to life imprisonment. The second case involved the killings of two Sikhs, Sardar Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh, in Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984, where Kumar was accused of being attacked with iron rods and sticks by a mob before being burned alive. He received his life sentence on February 25, 2025.

Despite this, a court in Vikaspuri acquitted Kumar in September 2023 concerning the killing of three Sikhs in Sultanpuri during the riots. CBI witness Cham Kaur had previously testified that Kumar had incited the mob during the violence.