Dugri resident Surinder Singh said before the riots broke out, he lived in the Mangol Puri locality of Delhi. "I had to get my hair cut in order to save myself," he said, while addressing a media conference here today.

Meanwhile, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar has urged the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to make Surinder a witness in the case.

Surinder alleged he had seen Sajjan Kumar, a senior Congress leader and a then Union minister, leading the mob and threatening and abusing Sikhs inside the Punjabi Bagh police station.

He said in order to save his life, he had to lose his identity and thus he was saved from the wrath of furious mob. "I had got my hair cut, I managed to stay there and saw the entire violence during those dark days of the massacre," he added.

He said he was prepared to become a witness and had submitted an affidavit to the CBI ten years ago, the fate of which is not known to him.

When asked why he had had been silent all these years, Surinder said he was too scared to speak until he was given an assurance of full protection by the Punjab government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).