The Indian government has opened a fresh inquiry into the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 in which several thousand Sikhs died.

The violence broke out in Delhi and other parts of the country, following the assassination of the former Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi, by two of her Sikh bodyguards.

The inquiry will investigate the causes of the violence and examine whether it could have been averted and whether there were lapses of duty on the past of the authorities.

It will be headed by a former supreme court judge, justice GT Nanavati, and is to report within six months. A BBC correspondent in Delhi says there has a widespread demand for a new investigation, particularly from the Sikh community which has been dissatisfied with the way cases related to the riots have been handled.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service