Muzaffarnagar riots report clears Uttar Pradesh government

Lucknow: A probe into the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots in which 60 people had died and thousands were made homeless has given a clean chit to the Akhilesh Yadav government of Uttar Pradesh and has blamed the local police and officials for misjudging and mishandling the situation.

The report by the Justice Vishnu Sahay Commission, tabled in Uttar Pradesh assembly, has held Subhash Chandra Dubey, then Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzzafarnagar, and the local intelligence Inspector Prabal Pratap Singh directly responsible for the
riots.

The report said no further action can be taken against BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som, who allegedly uploaded a fake video on Youtube, since his role is being investigated by the police. "No further action by the government can be initiated against him," the report said. Som has been accused in two cases related to the riots. He had been arrested and is currently out on bail.

No one can be directly held responsible for the hate speeches, read the report. In most cases of the panchayat and the local intelligence failed to estimate about the expected crowd turnover, it added. Describing the sequence of events leading to the riots, the report also brought then District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma's role under scanner.

As far as the Maha Panchayat of August 30, 2013, is concerned, a case against politicians Kadir Rana, Noor Salim Rana, Rashid Siddiqui, Ehsan Qureshi and others has been already registered and hence no further action can be taken, the report said. The report was made public six months after it was submitted to Governor Ram Naik.

At the time, the BJP had rejected the report, saying its findings were politically motivated. “No further action can be taken against BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som, who allegedly uploaded a fake video on Youtube, since his role is being investigated by the police”.