New Delhi, August 5:

An Indian cabinet minister has been accused of encouraging the violence that saw 2,000 Sikhs killed in a wave of 1984 rioting, media reports said today. An official inquiry said it found a “high probability” of “involvement” in the riots by Jagdish Tytler, now junior minister in charge of the welfare of non-resident Indians, the Hindustan Times said. “The commission considers it safe to record a finding that there is credible evidence against Jagdish Tytler to the effect he very probably had a hand in organising attacks on Sikhs,” the Times of India quoted the report as saying. The riots, mainly in New Delhi, erupted after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by two Sikh bodyguards, after she ordered the Indian army to storm the holiest Sikh site to flush out militants. The Times of India said the inquiry also

“specifically indicts” Sajjan Kumar, a current member of parliament, as well as the governor and police chief of Delhi at the time. There was no immediate official comment but those named have always said they were innocent. The government has promised to bring the latest report to parliament.