1984 riots: Court awards death penalty to Yashpal Singh

Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey also awarded life term to co-convict Naresh Sherawat in the case. (PTI file photo)

A Delhi court on Tuesday awarded death penalty to convict Yashpal Singh for killing two men in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the first capital punishment in the case.

Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey also awarded life term to co-convict Naresh Sherawat in the case.

The verdict was pronounced in the Tihar Jail due to security concerns and fears about the convicts being attacked on the premises of the Delhi court.

On November 14, the court had convicted Singh and Sherawat for killing two men here during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots -- the first conviction in the cases reopened by the SIT.

The Delhi Police had closed the case in 1994 for want of evidence. However, a Special Investigation Team on the riots reopened it.