Agra : A local court has acquitted five men accused of setting fire to a mosque and a house and looting around Rs 1 lakh in cash during 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, citing lack of evidence.
The five men — Anuj, Arvind, Neetu, Ankit and Ramkumar — were named as accused in a chargesheet filed by Special Investigation Team (SIT), which investigated the incident reported on Sept 8, 2013, in Mundhbar village. The case related to the killing of 40-year-old Raisuddin, who was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons during the violence.
Additional district and sessions judge Vijay Kumar ruled on Thursday that the prosecution had “failed to prove the charges against the men beyond reasonable doubt”. The prosecution alleged that a mob set houses on fire, vandalised a mosque and attacked police personnel deployed in the village. Four other accused died during the trial.
In Feb, another court in the district acquitted 22 men in a separate case linked to the riots in Mohammadpur Raisingh village, saying “the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence.”