Muzaffarnagar (UP), October 31: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who came under all-round attack for his government’s handling of the communal violence here in September that killed 62 people, has said that those responsible for the fresh bout of violence in Muzaffarnagar would be brought to justice. The law would take its own course. No one was above the law, he told reporters in Kannauj on Friday.
Eight persons have been arrested and cases registered against 15 people in connection with Thursday’s violence in the Budhana area of Muzaffarnagar in which three men were killed. A woman was also killed and her husband injured when some unidentified people attacked them in Thugana area, but police said it was not known if there was a communal angle to it.
Director-General of Police Devraj Nagar has rushed to Muzaffarnagar and is camping there. “The kind of incident that happened yesterday can definitely be attributed to lapses on the part of the police, due to which some people dared to do this [indulge in violence]. We will take strong action,” he told reporters here.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said the government was trying to normalise the situation through talks. He said whatever happened in Muzaffarnagar was not riots. It was the handiwork of some communal forces. He told party workers in Lucknow that the government would “crush” the forces that were vitiating the atmosphere if they went beyond control.
