01-08-2025
Muzaffarnagar riots: 10 acquitted for lack of proof, hostile witnesses
AGRA: A Muzaffarnagar court acquitted 10 individuals accused in a 2013 riots case due to lack of evidence and hostile witnesses. The accused were charged under IPC Section 153A (promoting enmity between groups) based on complaints by locals, Mohammad Iqbal and Noor Mohammad.
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The duo alleged their homes were vandalised and set ablaze on September 9, 2013. However, Iqbal later turned hostile, telling court he wasn't present in the village at the time. Other witnesses testified they were in Delhi during the incident. Defence argued accused were falsely named in FIR.
This comes just months after a similar acquittal in May, when 11 men from Lisarh village in Shamli district were cleared of charges of looting and torching the house of Kamruddin, who had fled with his family during the riots.
The communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli was triggered after Shahnawaz, 25, was stabbed to death in Kawal village on August 27, 2013. In retaliation, two of the alleged attackers, Sachin and Gaurav, were lynched. This led to widespread riots that claimed 62 lives and displaced over 50,000 people. tnn
