2015 riots: UP govt orders withdrawal of criminal case against 31 accused

Kanpur (UP), Oct 10 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the withdrawal of a criminal case pending against 31 accused persons related to a riot and arson incident that occurred in 2015 during clashes between people of different communities.

The incident took place under the Samajwadi Party government and was triggered by alleged disrespect to a religious poster in Darshanpurwa under the Fazalganj police station area.

The members of two communities engaged in stone pelting and raised slogans against each other, though no one was injured.

Sub-Inspector Brijesh Kumar Shukla, the then in-charge of Darshanpurwa police outpost, had lodged an FIR against 50 persons on charges of inciting riots, arson and other relevant sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (PPD Act) and Criminal Law Amendment Act. Thirty-one individuals were booked and later bailed out by the court.

District Government Counsel (Crime) Dileep Awasthi informed PTI that all 31 alleged accused persons had submitted a written request to the state government seeking the withdrawal of the criminal case against them. The matter was referred to a committee that sought a report from the district administration and police.

"The state government has issued an order to scrap the case pending against 31 persons," said Awasthi, adding the written order has been sent to the district magistrate of Kanpur who will forward it to the DGC office for further action.

The case, lodged with the Fazalganj police, was pending in a metropolitan magistrate court.

Deepu Pandey, BJP district president of Kanpur North, told PTI that all 31 accused persons had met him earlier and informed about the criminal case pending against them since 2015.

"I approached UP Minister for Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Kumar Khanna, in-charge minister of Kanpur, who brought the matter to the attention of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who issued the orders for the withdrawal of the case," he said.

While the state government has issued the order to scrap the case, the legal formalities are yet to be completed.

Pandey said he pursued the matter after realizing that most of the accused were BJP workers and people from the Dalit and backward communities who were implicated in the criminal case due to an alleged "anti-Hindu approach". PTI COR CDN AS AS