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Scores of Bharatiya Janata Party workers and supporters of riot-accused Member of Legislative Assembly Sangit Som burnt effigy of party president Rajnath Singh Muzaffarnagar in protest against denial of Lok Sabha ticket to the legislator.
The Congress accused Yogi Adityanath of withdrawing cases of heinous crimes such as rioting in Muzaffarnagar on religious lines.
'If you persist in opposing the government, they set the ED or the NIA on you. And the courts have not given us much hope.'
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Wednesday warned that the country may witness more communal violence ahead of the 2014 general election as he indicated that some political parties could be behind the riots in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
A government official in Lucknow said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the incident and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased migrants and Rs 50,000 to the seriously injured.
A large number of Muslims have been evacuated by security forces to a relief camp, while some have themselves moved out of their native villages fearing the onslaught of Hindu Jats in the riot-hit Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Two days of unabated communal violence claimed 30 lives.
The 20 districts where there would be no relaxation yet are Meerut, Lucknow, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Lakhimpur-Khiri, Sonbhadra, Jaunpur, Baghpat, Moradabad, Ghazipur, Bijnor and Deoria.
Eleven deaths have been reported in Saharanpur followed by 10 in Meerut, six in Agra, four in Mainpuri, three each in Muzaffarnagar and Kasganj, two each in Amroha, Bareilly, Baghpat and Bulandshahr and one each in Kanpur Dehat, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Rae Bareli, Jalaun, Jaunpur, Pratapgarh, Banda, Firozabad, Amethi, Kanpur and Pilibhit, they said.
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A day after Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh was detained for trying to enter Uttar Pradesh, his son Jayant Chaudhary managed to give police a slip and bypassed the tight security arrangements at the state border in Meerut.
'I was living in a fools' paradise, thinking I could win over anyone with my good intentions.'
The Uttar Pradesh government ordered a probe by a special investigation team after an IAS officer was seen in some video clips at a gathering at his home where religious conversion was being allegedly discussed.
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Assembly Sangeet Som, who was arrested for his alleged role in the Muzzafarnagar riots speeches, was on Tuesday detained under the stringent National Security Act.
'There is no animosity among us. We are one family.'
Till 5 pm, Agra recorded 56.61 per cent polling, Aligarh 57.25 per cent, Baghpat 61.35 per cent, Bulandshahr 60,52 per cent, Gautam Buddh Nagar 54.77 per cent, Ghaziabad 54.77 per cent, Hapur 60.50 per cent, Mathura 58.51 per cent, Meerut 58.52 cent, Muzaffarnagar 62.14 per cent and Shamli 61.78 per cent, an EC report said.
Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui was arrested by the ATS, which is probing the racket, at around 9 pm on Tuesday from Meerut, Additional Director General (ADG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said.
Sahil, 26, a resident of north Gonda area, says his father, Parvez Alam, 50, ran a garage and was trying to pacify people from both communities to not engage in violence.
Zakir Ali Tyagi was charged under the Indian Penal Code's Section 420 (cheating) and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act (computer related offences).
In a special campaign from April 2017 till July 2021, 13,801 cases were lodged under the Gangster Act and 43,294 accused arrested, while the National Security Act was invoked against 630 people, Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said.
Charging that the Samajwadi Party government has completely failed in taking action against those responsible for the Muzaffarnagar violence, Bahuujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati today demanded imposition of President's Rule in UP.
We have a team of youth activists to take action against such persons, he said.
Largest in area among the 75 UP districts, Lakhimpur Kheri, known for sugarcane cultivation, with nine sugar mills in the district, is home to three or four lakh Sikhs.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's projection as prime ministerial candidate will lead to "jacking up" of communal temperature and there can be more riots such as Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader and Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday.
Bharatiya Janata Party member of Legislative Assembly Suresh Rana, who was arrested for his alleged role in fanning communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, was booked on Thursday under the National Security Act.
"In every class, in every society, professional beggars are found. So, everyone knows that some of these beggars entered the riot camps," the former MP said.
It seems that in the 2019 general elections, people want Narendra Modi, but not necessarily the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. Aditi Phadnis reports
'By calling names and using unparliamentary language, they are trying to divert people's attention from the issues of electricity, water, and income.'
Even before the situation in Western Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district spiraled out of control, Union Minorities Minister K Rahman Khan said he had written several letters to the Ministry of Home Affairs, drawing its attention to the communal build-up in the state.
A local court has rejected the Special Investigation Team's clean chit to the six accused in connection with Shahnawaz murder case during the 2013 riots in the district.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union-led protest against the Centre's new farm laws in Ghaziabad looked like it was going slim on Thursday but more protesters have joined the stir, following a mahapanchayat of farmers on Saturday in Muzaffarnagar, while supporters also joined in from Haryana and Rajasthan districts.
An adverse outcome against the BJP in UP can well be taken into its stride by the ruling combine at the Centre, argues Virendra Kapoor.
The army on Sunday staged a flag march in riot-hit areas of Muzaffarnagar district where the toll in clashes between members of two communities has risen to 12.
The broad patterns tell us that to sweep UP, the BJP has to retain its voteshares of the past three elections. But to merely win it, the party can do so while losing some voteshare, and perhaps up to as much as 10 per cent, observes Aakar Patel.
Nearly a dozen first information reports have been lodged since the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, was notified on November 27.
Bir Singh Yadav, from Bahlolpur village in Noida, enacted the "symbolic suicide" at the Dalit Prerna Sthal where he has been camping along with scores of protestors belonging to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti).
The report, however, shows that Delhi's air quality improved by approximately 15 per cent from 2019 to 2020.
The Supreme Court on Friday said it will allow journalist Siddique Kappan, who was detained on October 5 while he was en route to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, to talk to his ailing mother via video conferencing.
Farmers flaunting colourful turbans, sunshades, long beards and twirling moustaches danced on tractors, distributed sweets and hugged each other to mark the occasion that seemed like a festival.
The force will provide security to the high court, district courts, administrative offices and buildings, Metro rail, airports, banks, financial institutions, educational institutions and industrial units. Members of this force can arrest any person without the orders of a magistrate or a warrant.
A bailable warrant has been issued against Muzaffarnagar riot accused including Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan, BJP MP Bhartendu Singh, party MLA Suresh Rana and Sadhvi Prachi by a local court in Muzaffarnagar for not appearing before it in a case of violating prohibitory orders and inciting communal tension by making speeches.
