Did BJP MLA ‘fuel’ Muzaffarnagar riots?

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Lucknow:  BJP MLA Som Sangeet was booked on Tuesday for uploading a fake video on Facebook that incited communal tensions in Muzaffarnagar district and nearby areas of western Uttar Pradesh.  He is on the run, police said.Mr Som has been booked for promoting religious enmity. FIRs have been registered against BJP legislative party leader Hukum Sin-gh, MLAs Suresh Rana and Kunwar Bhartendu and former Congress MP Harendra Malik for violating prohibitory orders.UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that efforts were being made to ensure that there was no more violence. He said that strict action was being against those found guilty for the flare-up.The Congress, however, alleged that the riots were the result of a BJP-SP conspiracy. “The BJP wants to grab power by adopting the Gujarat model and the Samajwadi Party is supporting it in this task,” Congress general secretary Madhu-sudan Mistry said. “This is the politics of dead bodies and it is just a trailer.”Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said the people knew who was responsible and everything would come to light once the situation eases.In Agra, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav denied that there were lapses on the part of the state government. He said the riots were a part of a larger conspiracy to malign the government. He stated that the violence was not related to communal riots but was the result of caste conflict.Interestingly, IG, STF, Ashish Gupta said in Lucknow that police had received intelligence inputs about riots in western UP. The statement substantiates the Governor’s report which indicts the government for not taking action to prevent the violence.The Centre has sought reports from the state government over the riots every 12 hours. The UP government asked for 50 more companies of paramilitary forces and transferred top district police officials.Curfew was relaxed in Muzaffarnagar for two hours on Tuesday evening, but security has been beefed up in Bareilly district following reports of communal tension.The toll has gone up to 41 but UP home secretary Kamal Saxena confirmed 38 deaths. Two deaths were reported from Meerut, and one each from Hapur, Baghpat, Saharanpur and Shamli.Nearly 600 families in 14 villages have fled to safer places. In Kurmali, officials had to personally intervene to prevent 60 families from fleeing.Picture caption: A policeman slaps a man to get him off the roads during curfew in the violence-hit Muzaffarnagar on Monday.