Of the 1,100-odd people identified by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) as having been involved in the September 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, 450 have either surrendered or have been arrested.
The police are conducting intensive raids and arresting 10-20 persons every day. “We are confident of arresting all the accused within a month as directed by the Supreme Court and the Uttar Pradesh government,” Inspector-General, Meerut Zone, Alok Sharma, told The Hindu here on Tuesday.
He reviewed the progress of the investigation in Muzaffarnagar on Monday. The riots have left at least 63 dead and thousands displaced.
Mr. Sharma said these 1,100-odd persons from both the Jat and Muslim communities were wanted for murder, arson, loot, inflicting grievous injuries, inciting people against members of the other community or rape. The order to surrender before their properties were attached was having a positive impact.
The SIT had identified 25 persons of having committed rape. Of them, two had been arrested and legal proceedings for attachment of properties of 23 others had been initiated.
Tension after attackMeanwhile, tension was brewing in the Bahawadi area of Shamli district, where a group of “displaced” persons allegedly attacked a man of the other community while he was returning from a marriage party on Monday. The attackers entered the house where the man had taken shelter and threw stones in which a woman in the house suffered a head injury. The villagers convened a panchayat to discuss the issue.
A local official said the attackers were not refugees as all the displaced persons had been given compensation and sent back to their villages. ‘These are people who were hanging around on encroached land in the hope of getting some compensation’, he said.
