Political sparring intensifies, UP CM meets Dadri victim's family

Political sparring over the Dadri lynching got murkier on Sunday with controversial BJP MLA Sangeet Som, accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, attacking the SP government for "shielding cow killers" to appease Muslims.

Disregarding prohibitory orders in force, Som visited Dadri and addressed a meeting asking Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to stop shedding "crocodile tears" while BJP lashed out at him for giving a "communal" colour to the incident. As charges and counter-charges of polarisation hotted up with an eye on the 2017 UP Assembly polls, the CM met in Lucknow the family of 50-year-old Ikhlaq, who was lynched in Dadri over beef eating rumours, assuring them of justice.