A sessions court in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday acquitted five persons, accused in a case related to the 2013 riots in the city, due to lack of evidence, PTI reported.
Additional Sessions Judge Babu Ram held that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against accused Vinod, Naresh, Ashish, Sunder and Satyendra.
Nanu, a resident of Bahawdi village under the Phugana police station in Muzaffarnagar, had alleged that the five persons were part of a mob that barged into his house on November 8, 2013. The mob had set his house on fire and looted valuables, Nanu had alleged, according to PTI.
A special investigation team of the Uttar Pradesh Police was conducting inquiry in the case. The team had filed a chargesheet against the five accused in 2014.
However, the court on Wednesday held that the evidence cited by the team was insufficient.
Communal violence had erupted in the western Uttar Pradesh district after Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including then state minister Suresh Rana, the party’s MLA Sangeet Som and former MP Bharatendra Singh allegedly made inflammatory speeches in September 2013.
At least 60 people were killed and thousands of Muslim families were displaced in the riots that followed. There were also several reports of sexual assault and abuse in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts.
In March, a special court in Uttar Pradesh had allowed the state government’s request to withdraw a case of inciting violence against various accused, including 12 BJP leaders.
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