2013 RIOTS: COURT ALLOWS WITHDRAWAL OF CASE AGAINST UP MINISTER, BJP MLAS

MEERUT : The special court (MP/ MLA) in Muzaffarnagar has accepted the state government’s request to withdraw a case registered against Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Rana, BJP MLAs Umesh Malik and Sangeet Som, former MP Kunwar Bhartendra Singh, VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi and others for spreading hatred, which allegedly triggered the Muzaffarnagar riots in September 2013.

Suresh Rana is the sugarcane development minister in the state government. Umesh Malik is the BJP MLA from Budhana constituency in Muzaffarnagar and Sangeet Som represents Sardhana assembly constituency in Meerut. Kunwar Bhartendra Singh was the BJP MP from Bijnor but lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Additional district government counsel (ADGC) of Muzaffarnagar Lalit Bhardwaj said the state government decided to withdraw the case registered against Suresh Rana,

Umesh Malik, Sangeet Som and the others. The case was registered against them after a panchayat was held in an intermediate college at Nangla Mandaud village in 2013.

It was alleged that the accused participated in the panchayat and their speeches incited communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts.

The panchayat was held folthe murder of three persons, including brothers Sachin and Gaurav at Kawal village of Muzaffarnagar district.

Bhardwaj said that state government sent a letter to withdraw the case last year and the then ADGC filed an application in the special court under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code in this regard.

“It was pending for over a year and finally the court approved it on Thursday,” said Bhardwaj.

Earlier, the same court also accepted the closure report in a case registered against MLA Sangeet Som and others for allegedly uploading and sharing a supposedly fake video on social media which allegedly provoked sentiments of people ahead of the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was killed during violence in Bulandshahr in December 2018, investigated charges against the accused in the case and submitted his final report.

He found no evidence as Facebook didn’t respond to the queries. The court accepted the report two years after the death of investigating officer Singh. Hence, the case against Som and the others was closed.

Over 60 people were killed and over 50,000 displaced during communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts in September 2013.

THE COURT ACCEPTED THE REPORT TWO YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF INVESTIGATING OFFICER SINGH.