20 acquitted in a case as all witnesses turn hostile
A total of 98 cases of riots have been decided so far
MEERUT : The court of the additional district judge (ADJ) in Muzaffarnagar district of western Uttar Pradesh acquitted 20 accused in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case on Monday after all eyewitnesses turned hostile during the hearing.
Special counsel Narendra Sharma said the hearing was pertaining to violence at Kutbi, the village of Union minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Sanjeev Kumar Balyan.
The special investigation team (SIT) probing the riots had filed a charge sheet against the accused, in which they were charged under Sections 392, 436, 295, 147, 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Sharma said additional district judge Baburam acquitted the accused after all the eyewitnesses turned hostile during the hearing in the court.
The accused were charged with attacking and burning houses of people, damaging village mosque and raising slogans in Kutbi after violence broke out at various places in Muzaffarnagar district during the riots in September 2013.
Sharma said that hearing of riots cases is under way in the court of ADJ.
A total of 98 cases of riots have been decided so far in which 1,137 accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Police had registered 510 cases and arrested 1,480 people in connection with the riots.
After investigation, SIT filed charge sheets in 175 cases.
Over 60 people died in the communal clashes and more than 50,000 were displaced during the riots in 2013.