10, Feb 2016

While Muslim leaders blamed poor police investigation for the acquittals, Rana said that the families of the two victims turned hostile during the trial. And for reasons they don’t explain, the families no longer wish to pursue the case.
Written by Manish Sahu , Kaunain Sheriff M | Lucknow/muzaffarnagar | Published:February 10, 2016 3:05 am
A day after Muslim leaders, upset with the acquittal of 10 accused in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case in which a boy and his aunt were killed and set ablaze, demanded that the state remove its counsel in the case and approach the High Court in appeal, the Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday dropped additional government counsel Sajid Rana from its panel.
While Muslim leaders blamed poor police investigation for the acquittals, Rana said that the families of the two victims turned hostile during the trial. And for reasons they don’t explain, the families no longer wish to pursue the case.
The 10 were acquitted last Friday by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Muzaffarnagar.
The boy, Aas Mohammad, and his aunt Sarajo were killed and their bodies burnt by a mob after riots broke out in Laak village on September 8, 2013.
Aas Mohammad’s father Mohammad Iqbal (43) fled the village and now lives in Kandhla area of Shamli where he built a house with the relief money the government handed him. His mother Ramzane, wife Salma Bano and four children — the youngest a six-month-old girl — are with him. Waheed, Iqbal’s elder brother and husband of Sarajo, also lives in Shamli now.