Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh has recommended the withdrawal of 38 criminal cases against more than 100 individuals who were accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. The note prepared by special secretary JP Singh and undersecretary Arun Kumar Rai was sent to the Muzaffarnagar District Magistrate (DM) on January 29, 2019.
On the other side, the same Yogi Adityanath government has constituted a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by retired UP Director General of Police Atul, to probe the circumstances that led to riots in Kanpur in 1984 following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi. The SIT has been asked to submit its report within six months of tenure.
While at least 125 people were killed in 1984 riots in Kanpur after the assassination of then Prime Minister Gandhi, at least 63 people died and over 50,000 were displaced in Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.
The 38 cases which are decided to be withdrawn also involve robbery, arson, desecration of places of worship and hurting religious sentiments.
Allegedly the SIT formed by the government has given a clean chit to influential and rich persons while implicating the poor.
The opposition has strongly criticised the decision to withdraw cases.