Kanpur, March 26 -- During the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Kanpur, 127 people were killed, nearly 300 houses and shops destroyed, and over 4,200 families internally displaced. Petitions have been filed for quashing of FIRs in the wake of a Special Investigation Team closing its three-year probe. The SIT was constituted in May 2019 on Supreme Court orders following representations by Sikh bodies. It examined 11 cases of heinous crimes - murder, rioting, arson and loot - out of 40 identified for reinvestigation and found records in nine of them. It made 44 arrests over three years, the first accountability for the violence in nearly four decades. Of the 92 accused identified during the probe, 20 had died by the time the SIT completed its work. Seven others, critically ill, were charged, but could not be arrested. Witnesses in Delhi, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan recorded statements under Section 164 of the CrPC before a competent magistrate in Kanpur. In all, 135 witnesses helped the SIT identify 74 persons in connection with the riots, said retired DIG Balendu Bhushan Singh, who led the investigation. Of the 1,251 riot-related FIRs registered in Kanpur, 40 fell under heinous offences. The SIT, headed by retired director general of police Atul, comprised an SP-rank officer, two inspectors, 10 sub-inspectors and retired district judge Subhash Chandra Agarwal, who advised on legal aspects. Police had filed final reports in 29 of these cases by 1988. Charge sheets were filed in the remaining 11, but all accused were eventually acquitted for want of evidence during trial. Community leaders alleged that influential figures escaped accountability. Kuldip Singh, chairman of Guru Singh Sabha, said the SIT arrested many and brought closure to the families. The high court's decision not to quash the FIRs is in the right direction as those arrested will continue to face trial, he said. The Sikh community is pressing for the disbursement of compensation as per the Kuldip-Vora package. "The high court had issued an order on the basis of this package; we have met the chief minister and attended several meetings but to no avail," Kuldip Singh said. He added that while most affected families had lost hope, the community wanted a solution acceptable to all parties. The SIT was initially given a six-month mandate but received six extensions before concluding its work....