BJP, SP leaders to blame for 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots: Probe panel

Lucknow: A panel probing the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 in Uttar Pradesh has blames the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the violence.

As per a report in The Times of India, the Justice (retd) Vishnu Sahai Commission has prepared its report and blamed local leaders of the two parties for inciting violence in which over 60 people were killed and some 50,000 rendered homeless.

The Commission did not spare district-based senior police and administrative officials either and indicted them for lapses that allowed the clashes to spread.

As per the daily, the panel's findings were submitted in the form of a report to state Governor Ram Naik on Wednesday. The report will now be forwarded to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for further action.

"The Commission has handed over the first copy of the report. It will be sent to the state government for necessary action soon," Naik said, as per the newspaper. Apart from Sahai, secretary to the inquiry commission, Dilip Kumar, was also present at the Raj Bhawan when the report was submitted.

Riots had engulfed Muzaffarnagar as well as five other west UP districts in September 2013.

The SP government had later set up the Sahai Commission to probe the violence.