MUZAFFARNAGAR: Seven years after communal riots in UP left at least 60 dead and over 50,000 homeless in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, the special MP/MLA court has now said a key case against several prominent BJP leaders, including MLA Sangeet Som, Kunwar Bhartendra Singh, UP cabinet minister Suresh Rana, Hindu activist Sadhvi Prachi, can be withdrawn.
Judge of the special court, Ram Sudh Singh, allowed the government counsel to withdraw the case, related to fomenting trouble during the clashes in 2013.
The case pertains to the Nangla Mandaur mahapanchayat that was held on September 7, 2013 in which the BJP leaders were alleged to have incited violence through their speeches.
Giving details, district government counsel Rajeev Sharma said, "In 2013, a case was registered at Sikheda police station by the then station house officer (SHO) Charan Singh Yadav, and the matter was pending before the court of ADJ-5. A year-and-a-half ago, proceedings of returning the case were initiated by the government. The prosecution had filed an application under CrPC 321 in the court, which has now accepted it, thereby ending the case."
According to sources, after the Kawal incident on August 27 in which a youth named Shahnawaz was killed by cousin brothers Sachin and Gourav — after which the two were also beaten to death by a group of villagers — a mahapanchayat was held in Nagla Mandaur village on September 7, 2013, in which thousands of people, including several BJP leaders, attended.
Soon after the mahapanchayat, communal riots erupted across the district. As many as 40 people, including a bunch of BJP leaders, were booked.
About one-and-a-half year ago, Union minister Sanjeev Balyan and other BJP leaders met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and demanded withdrawal of the cases from court, saying the previous Samajwadi Party government had filed false cases. Later, the state department of justice sought a report from the district administration on the matter.