No withdrawal of riot cases, says Muzaffarnagar DM

The Uttar Pradesh government's move to withdraw the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riot cases has hit a roadblock with the local district administration opposing it on administrative grounds.

The government, which had elicited the views of the administration on the riot cases, has been told by Muzaffarnagar District Magistrate Rajiv Sharma that it was not right on administrative grounds.

"We have probed all aspects of the cases and have sent a report to the government... We have also given our views on the basis of the police and prosecution reports that withdrawal of cases would not be right from administrative point of view," the DM told reporters in Muzaffarnagar.

Some senior BJP lawmakers, among others, have been named in several cases related to the 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli.

The move to withdraw the cases was set in motion in February last year after a BJP delegation met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath.

BJP MLA Sangeet Som, who is also named in the case, however, said that justice would be done.

"The fake cases framed during the then Samajwadi Party government will be withdrawan," he said.

The Adityanath government had written to the district officials, asking them for a detailed report on the status of cases against BJP leaders accused of making provocative speeches and inciting riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013.

The lawmakers have been accused of violating prohibitory orders and stopping public servants from doing their duties.