JOIN US3,600 booked for Meerut violence
Tension prevailed in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district a day after violent clashes broke out at a”Panchayat”, leaving over two dozen people injured.
Police registered cases against 3,600 unidentified people in connection with the violence and arrested BJP MLA Sangeet Som's father and an aide on the charge of inciting violence.Violence erupted after a “panchayat” organized at Kheda in Meerut on Sunday to protest Som's arrest for his alleged involvement in Muzaffarnagar communal riots.
Several people, including cops, were injured and a number of vehicles were torched and damaged.Police have also registered cases against Som's wife and his brother in connection with the violence. “We are trying to identify the miscreants from the video footage and will take stern action against them,” said district police chief Deepak Kumar. No reports of untoward incidents were reported in the district and the situation was “normal”, he claimed though tension prevailed in Kheda village and security personnel continued to patrol the troubled areas.
Although the “panchayat” had been banned, thousands of people, including women, managed to reach the venue by walking through the sugar cane fields taking the security personnel by surprise. The mob chased officials and damaged a large number of vehicles. The officials had to take shelter at an educational institution.
As many as 13 cops were among those injured in the violence, while over two dozen people have been taken into custody. The state government has slapped the National Security Act (NSA) on Som, who has been accused of uploading a “fake provocative video” on a social networking site along with delivering inflammatory speeches.
At least 50 people were killed and over one hundred injured in the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar district, triggered when a frenzied mob beat to death a member of a particular community during a “mahapanchayat” (meeting), organized to protest the killing of two youths by members of a particular community a few days back at Kaval village in the district.