It's six years since Singh was "forced" to flee his home in Delhi and seek asylum in the United States, hounded, as he says, by Congress politician and now Delhi Sadar MP Jagdish Tytler's men. Eighteen years old at the time of the anti-Sikh carnage, Singh claims to have seen Tytler incite a mob to kill Sikhs on the night of November 3, 1984.

Singh came got political asylum in the United States six years ago and is now settled in the Bay Area, California. The CBI had faxed and emailed the notice, on January 2, to Singh's counsel Gurpatwant Pannun.

Pannun, who represents Singh's interests in the US, says: "We will respond to CBI's notice before the next court hearing (January 15). The authorities know very well that under Section 166(A)-1 of CrPC, my client has the right to testify in the US for this case."

Pannun says the CBI also realises a recorded statement is "valid in the Indian court of law".

Singh says his reluctance to go to India to testify stems from threats made against him and his family in the past. He alleges that "Tytler's men" have called him up on several occasions and threatened him to withdraw from the case.

"I am scared they will kill me if I go to India to testify," Singh, who works as a truck driver in the Bay Area, says. "Why can't they (CBI) take my statement from here? I am willing to testify through video-conferencing, which was the Delhi court's suggestion as well."

Singh says a CBI official rang him up some two weeks ago to know whether he would come to India to testify. But the official, he says, had "no clear answer" when asked about assurance for his security. "I want my testimony to come forward. The country deserves to know who were responsible for the killings in the 1984 carnage," Singh says. "But I also fear they will hurt me and my family if go to testify."

The CBI had declared Jasbir Singh 'untraceable' late last year and had closed the investigation against Tytler, claiming there was no evidence to substantiate charges against him. But after the Indian media tracked down Singh to his current home in California, there were calls for the case to be reopened. Senior counsel H S Phulka, representing Sikh organisations, furnished Singh's address to the Delhi court hearing the case and, on December 18, the court asked CBI to reinvestigate Tytler's involvement in the 1984 carnage.

The court had also suggested CBI to find out if Singh's statement can be recorded through video-conferencing.

The next hearing is scheduled for January 15.