Meerut: Thirty nine people accused of arson, murder, and rioting in the 36-year-old Maliana anti-Muslim pogrom case were acquitted by a Meerut court for ‘lack of evidence’.
It has been 36 years since 72 Muslims were brutally killed by Hindu mob in the small town of Maliana, in Uttar Pradesh, during anti-Muslim violence in the Meerut district. A day earlier, at least 42 Muslim men had been killed in Hashimpura, a neighbourhood in Meerut.
Additional district judge Lakhvinder Sood, after hearing pleas of both sides, ordered the acquittal of all the 39 accused in absence of “sufficient evidence against them”.
Following the violence in 1987, one Yakoob Ali had got a case lodged against 93 people at the T P Nagar police station, IANS reported.
Later, in July 1988, police submitted a charge-sheet against 79 people while mentioning 61 eyewitnesses. However, only 14 of the eyewitnesses turned up to record their statements.
The hearing of the case went on for more than 35 years. During this period, as many as 40 accused, along with the doctor who performed the post-mortem, died.
The remaining 39 accused appeared before the court on Saturday.
Senior lawyer Alauddin Siddiqui, representing the complainant, said that the survivors have lost hope of getting justice while pointing out that 14 family members of Ismail, an area resident, were killed in the violence.
“Family members of the victims are tired and they do not want to carry the legal battle forward,” said Siddique.
Recounting the violence, Salim Siddique, a resident of Maliana and eyewitness of the bloodshed, said that it was the 25th day of Ramzan when police and PAC personnel cordoned off an entire locality.
Thereafter, a drunk mob entered the houses and attacked families with sharp-edged weapons and wooden shafts, and set their houses on fire. He added that youth were dragged out from their houses and gathered in vacant plots where they were mercilessly beaten by PAC jawans.
Quoting Siddique, the report said six people from a family were burnt alive.
In the second incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi, a court has acquitted 36 people, including 34 police personnel, in a 25-year-old case pertaining to the encounter of four people. Additional sessions judge Shailoj Chandra acquitted the 36 people, giving them the benefit of doubt.
