Three days after the murder of a 60-year-old doctor, Budhprakash Kashyap, who was once accused in the anti-Sikh riots, tension prevails in Trilokpuri, where the murder took place. While the police are yet to make any headway in the case, Kashyap’s family is alleging that his murder is linked to the riots. This has caused a stir among the Sikh community in Trilokpuri, which fears being dragged into the case.

Trilokpuri was a hotbed of the ’84 riots in which 298 Sikhs were killed. Kashyap’s murder occurred on October 31, the 25th anniversary of the riots.

Kashyap was stabbed in his clinic while examining a patient. The murderer, his face hidden in a monkey cap, managed to escape. The police say no one saw his face. And they have no confirmation that the murder is linked to the riots.

Kahyap, popularly called Dr Lamboo, had been a Congressman all his life and was accused in seven cases. The lower court acquitted him in six and sentenced him for one. He appealed in the High Court and after serving time for 11 months, was acquitted. Kashyap’s family says he had no enemy except the ones who alleged his involvement in the anti-Sikh riots. “It is the Sikhs who killed him. It was they who always accused him of killing people in 1984,” said his widow Bimlesh Kumari (55). “They chose the day the riots happened to kill my husband.”

Many do believe her. “He was a humble doctor who treated almost everyone in the area,” said Ram Babu (38) a shopkeeper. “This murder has only one obvious reason.”

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