Muzaffarnagar riots: BJP MLA gets 2-yr imprisonment

Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Vikram Saini and 11 others were sentenced to two years imprisonment in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case by a special MP/MLA court on Tuesday.

Special Judge Gopal Upadhyay convicted them for rioting and other offences and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each.

The court acquitted 15 other accused in the case for lack of evidence.

Saini, who is the BJP MLA from Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, said that he will file an appeal against the verdict.

The MLA and others were taken into custody and later granted bail on furnishing two sureties each of Rs 25,000 for approaching the high court.

The 12 were convicted under Indian Penal Code sections 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging his duty), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), and 149 (unlawful assembly).

Vikram Saini was also booked under the National Security Act.

The BJP MLA and 26 others were facing trial for their alleged role in the violence at Kawal village when a crowd was returning after the cremation of two Jat youths.

The killing of the two youths -- Gaurav and Sachin -- and one Shahnawaz triggered the communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in August and September 2013, claiming 60 lives and leaving 40,000 people displaced.