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Monday, October 14, 2013

[mukto-mona] Muzaffarnagar riots: Special Cell begins probe



Muzaffarnagar riots: Special Cell begins probe

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Indian army soldiers patrol during a curfew imposed following deadly clashes between Hindus and Muslims at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh state, on September 9. (AP File Photo/)
 
Muzaffarnagar, September 17 (Agencies) A special cell comprising an additional Superintendent of Police, two DySP and 30 police inspectors, set up to investigate cases related to riots here, has started collecting evidence. The special cell was formed on the instructions of the UP government, District Magistrate, Kaushal Raj Sharma said on Monday.

Close to 1,700 arms licences have been cancelled in the area since the riots erupted and notice issued to 5,000 other arms license holders, the DM said. A total of 7,198 people from 4,729 families are at present living in 41 relief camps set up by the administration, he said, adding the problem has largely been witnessed in 32 villages of Muzaffarnagar. Senior Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar said that close to 20 Special Investigation Teams have been constituted to probe the riot cases.

The special teams have been asked to go to camps to obtain complaints from the riot-affected people and people can even approach the SSPs camp office in the city to file the complaints, he said on Monday. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Naresh Tikait, who is accused of provoking violence, has demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

Court seeks report on communal riots during Akhilesh regime
The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench Tuesday sought details of all the riots that have taken place since the Akhilesh Yadav regime was sworn-in March 15, 2012. The direction was given to the state government as the court heard a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by social activist Nutan Thakur.

The petitioner sought investigation by the Cenral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of all major riots that have taken place after formation of new government, and that a sitting high court judge be inducted in the one-man Justice Vishnu Sahai Commission, set up by the state government to probe the recentg Muzaffarnagar clashes that left 48 dead.

After hearing arguments of petitioner's counsel Asok Pande, a bench of Justice Imtiyaz Murtaza and Justice Arvind Kumar Tripathi-II directed the state's Additional Advocate General Bulbul Godiyal to apprise the court within two weeks on writs on communal riots filed in the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court as well.

According to the PIL, the action and policy of the current government and its officials has been such that it shows a definite tilt towards a particular sect. In all the riots that took place in the last 18 months, the administration shied away from taking action against culprits of that particular sect, it contended, claiming this has resulted in a sense of mistrust in members of the other community, including the petitioner.
 
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Army starts pulling out

Lucknow, september 17 (IANS): Soldiers on Tuesday started pulling out of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh after being deployed there for the last one week following communal violence. "There is absolute calm and the district administration and police are in complete control of the situation. Hence the army is being withdrawn," Additional Director General of Police Arun Kumar told IANS.

Twenty-eight units of the army were requisitioned to assist the district administration after communal clashes erupted in Muzaffarnagar city, about 130 km from New Delhi, and the adjoining rural areas September 7-9. More than 40 people were killed and scores injured in the violence, forcing the authorities to deploy the military for the first time in over two decades to quell communal clashes. Police officer Kumar said it was time for the army to withdraw.

Informed sources said that while it was decided earlier to pull out the army in phases, it was later felt that this would "unnecessarily create an atmosphere of tension. "Hence, a decision was taken at the political level, paving way for the (full) pullout." District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said the administration's focus was now to rehabilitate the people who fled their homes and have taken refuge in makeshift centres. Officials will also distribute the financial compensation sanctioned by the state government for the riot victims. Deputy Inspector General of Police Ashok Mutha Jain said special teams had been formed to catch people booked for their involvement 
 
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Politicians addressed crowd armed with swords, guns
 
Muzaffarnagar, September 17 (ndtv): The eruption of deadly communal riots in Muzaffarnagar is attributed to a gathering of thousands of Hindu Jat farmers on September 7 on the outskirts of a village named Kawal, where days earlier, a Muslim boy had been killed by two Jat brothers, who were then lynched within an hour. (Read: Riots started with this teen's harassment, say some)

Local officials had banned public meetings after the murders. But politicians, determined to hone and exploit the tension between Hindus and Muslims, held meetings and delivered incendiary speeches. New footage of the mahapanchayat on September 7, accessed by NDTV, shows four BJP  legislators at the enormous gathering, where many farmers brandished swords and guns. The four politicians have been accused by the police of stirring communal hatred; none have been arrested so far.

Seen delivering a speech is Hukum Singh, the BJP's Leader in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Watching him are partymen Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana. Hukum Singh tells the crowd that earlier atrocities by minorities were not investigated or punished by the administration. Later, an aggressive Mr Singh told journalists, "There has been discrimination against Hindus for the last year and a half... No action is being taken on complaints... They are being troubled... girls are being harassed. The purpose of this panchayat is Hindu unity."

Since then Singh has attempted to distance himself from the Saturday meeting. His comments to journalists, he said today, were merely a response to why the panchayat had been called. He also said that he had uttered "not a single word that was objectionable" in his speech. "I did not organise it. I was merely called there," the BJP man said, also reiterating that he left within 10 minutes as he was shocked the police had allowed people to bring weapons.

The footage shows the agitated crowd leaving the meeting shouting inflammatory slogans, wielding guns, cleavers and batons. As they left the meeting, groups of farmers were attacked. In the next 48 hours, nearly 50 people were killed. At other meetings, leaders from other parties stoked the tension.

After Friday prayers on August 30, local leaders from the Congress and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP delivered incendiary speeches, the police said, to an audience of about 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, in Muzaffarnagar. They have been named in a police case for instigating communal tension, but have not been arrested yet.
Flash point Muzaffarnagar09-Sep


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