BJP MLA Sangeet Som booked for showing 'riot' documentary ahead of UP polls

Meerut, Jan 19: Sangeet Som, the controversial BJP MLA from Sardhana in UP , has been booked for allegedly screening footage from the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots as part of a documentary . The riots left 63 people dead and over 50,000 homeless.

"A case has been filed against Sangeet Som under Section 125 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election) in the Representation of the People Act, 1951," Sardhana circle officer Chandra Pal Singh said. On Tuesday , police had seized a CD allegedly containing footage of the riots from Som's campaign vehicle at Fareedpur village in Meerut's Sardhana constituency. A case was also filed against the driver of the vehicle and another person for violating Section 144 of CrPc. Police sources said the CD contained footage of the clashes that took place in Muzaffarnagar's Kawal vil lage in 2013.

Meerut district magistrate B Chandrakala had said on Tuesday , "The 21-minute documentary has been found objectionable and communal in nature by the media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC). A report is being compiled and sent to the Election Commission."

According to sources in the MCMC, the documentary included interviews of Som on different TV channels during the riots, and projected him as a hero. When TOI contacted Som, he said, "The CD did not contain any clips on Muzaffarnagar riots." Som, an accused in the communal flare-up, was among three BJP legislators booked on Wednesday for violating the model code of conduct. The two others are Muzaffarnagar MLA Kapil Dev Agarwal and Shamli representative Suresh Rana, also an accused in the 2013 riots.

While Agarwal has been booked for a campaign march from his office to a temple, Rana sat on a dharna held by traders and made an address.

Both have been booked under IPC Section 188, i.e. disobedience of an order issued by a public servant.

VHP issues Ram temple ultimatum

VHP has postponed its Ram temple campaign till the UP assembly elections conclude, but said on Wednesday that the BJP-led Centre had three months after that to build the temple, failing which it would march to Parliament with its "80 lakh members". VHP international general secretary Champat Rai, who presided over the chintan shivir at the annual Magh Mela in Allahabad, said, "We have suspended the agitation... as BJP is engaged in polls. The campaign will intensify after the polls." "He said the government's "dilly-dallying" over the issue had given rise to resentment among seers. "I urge VHP officebearers and seers to prepare themselves for an agitation if the government fails to fulfil our demand," he added.