Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was serving a life sentence for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died on Thursday at the age of 80. He was declared brought dead at Safdarjung Hospital after being taken there from Delhi’s Tihar Jail. The cause of death is yet unknown.
Kumar was a three-time Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi and a prominent figure in Delhi politics from the 1970s onward. His political career was later overshadowed by cases linked to the 1984 riots, which followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In 2018, the Delhi High Court convicted Kumar and sentenced him to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of five people in Palam Colony. In 2025, he was convicted in another case involving the killing of two Sikh men in Saraswati Vihar and again sentenced to life imprisonment.
Kumar remained in Tihar Jail until his death. His conviction and the wider 1984 riots continue to remain a significant and painful chapter in India’s political history.