HC grants bail to 60 BJP workers arrested in Moradabad

The Allahabad High Court today granted bail to 60 BJP activists arrested in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh where a communal conflagration had erupted a few months ago.
Justice Ramesh Sinha allowed the bail applications of Harmit Singh and 59 others who had moved the court challenging an order of the Sessions Court at Moradabad where their bail pleas were rejected on 16.07.2014.
The petitioners had been arrested in connection with the communal flare-up that took place in the aftermath of devotees at a Shiva temple in Kant village of Moradabad having been asked by members of another community to turn off the loudspeaker.

The District Magistrate and a number of police officials were injured in the clash that erupted between members of the two communities.
The petitioners were granted bail after it was argued by their counsel B P Srivastava that hundreds of people had been involved in the violent clashes out of whom 60 were placed under arrest though there was a possibility of them being only spectators.
The Samajwadi Party government in the state had drawn flak from all opposition parties which had accused it of failing to check the communal tension in time.
The ruling party had, in turn, blamed the violence on alleged polarisation tactics of BJP which was riding high after Lok Sabha polls wherein it had grabbed 71 out of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.