A local court has acquitted 10 individuals accused of involvement in a murder case linked to the 2013 communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, citing a “lack of sufficient evidence.”
The ruling was delivered on Thursday and made public on Saturday.
The case pertains to the murder of Az Mohd, also known as Ashu, who was killed on September 8, 2013, in Phugana. Ashu was allegedly beaten to death with sticks and sharp-edged objects. The initial complaint was filed by his wife, Imrana, who stated, “As we were heading towards the bus stand, Ashu and I were surrounded by a mob.”
In her allegations, she identified several local individuals—Gaurav, his father Amarpal, Rocky alias Don, Ratan, Kapil, Sachin, Dinesh, Yogesh, Abhishek, Ruby, Master Shripal, and Manoj—as part of the mob that attacked her husband.
Following an investigation, a special investigation team cleared one of the accused, Shripal, and filed a chargesheet against the remaining eleven. It is worth noting that another accused, Sachin, died in a road accident prior to the trial.
Lawyer Shoraj Malik, familiar with the case, stated, “A case under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 147 (rioting) was registered, and after hearing both sides, the court pronounced its judgment.”
During the trial, both the complainant and her mother turned “hostile,” complicating the prosecution’s efforts to establish the case. Notably, Imrana initially named four individuals in her complaint.
This case is part of a broader pattern, as numerous acquittals related to the 2013 communal violence in western Uttar Pradesh have occurred, often due to insufficient evidence or witnesses becoming hostile.
For instance, on the night of September 7, a local court acquitted seven individuals accused of robbery and arson in Bahawari, again due to a lack of evidence as all witnesses, including the plaintiff, turned hostile.
The communal riots erupted in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts following the stabbing death of 25-year-old Shahnawaz on August 27, 2013, allegedly by a group of eight individuals. In the ensuing chaos, two of the alleged attackers, Sachin and Gaurav, were lynched by a crowd.
The riots resulted in the deaths of at least 62 individuals and displaced over 50,000 residents from their homes.
