Sushree Mohanty
A Special Court has accepted the closure report submitted by an Uttar Pradesh Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) against BJP MLA Sangeet Som for an incident of uploading a provocative video on online media platforms prior to the riots.
While issuing the order, Special Judge Ram Sudh Singh acknowledged the closure report of the Investigation Team and said that the objection report has been filed by the complainant Subhodh Kumar, who has passed away.
Similarly, no complaint report against the closure file has been documented at present.
Subhodh Kumar was murdered when a riot went out of control over claims of an illicit cow butcher in Bulandshahr.
As indicated by the report, the Special Investigation Team had documented a conclusion report in the court, stating that no proof could be found against Sangeet Som, the MLA from Sardhana.
During examination, the Investigation Team with the help from the Central Bureau of Investigation had requested for the subtleties of the people accused of uploading the video on the platform from the Facebook Headquarters located in the United States.
However the prosecution submitted that Facebook failed to produce the names of those engaged with the act which prompted the riot.
Police had documented a case under section 420 (cheating), 153 A (promoting enmity between groups) and criminal conspiracy under section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Additionally, a case was registered under the section 66 of the Information and Technology (IT) Act against Sangeet Som and 200 others individuals who were accused of liking the concerned video on Facebook.
The individuals charged were alleged to have spread the video showcasing the murder of two youths, further inciting people to stage a mob and take out riots.
During examination, it was concluded that the video was old and had either been shot in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Another report in the matter claimed that at least 60 individuals were murdered and 40,000 individuals were affected in the riots that took place in Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring regions.