Muzaffarnagar: Months after Muzaffarnagar riots, many of the accused in cases of looting, arson and even violence against women are roaming free. Around 500 Phugana villagers are accused in various cases and they have put pressure on the police not to make any arrests.
Several homes were burnt down and vandalised dyuring the riots and some of the men accused are yet to be arrested.
One of the accused Mohit says, "I have been named as an accused in vandalism, looting etc."
Another accused Sudhir says, "No one from our village did this. People came from outside."
Dr Arvind is one of the accused who has 39 cases registered against him. He says, "There are almost 500 accused from our village. We all got together and put pressure on the police, which is why there were no arrests."
The village head dismisses claims that Hindus looted Muslim homes. He shows pitures saying there is proof that the Muslims took away their belongings. Village Head Tham Singh said, "No one attacked them or abused them. They took their belongings away."
Villagers on the outer region of Muzaffarnagar and beyond are far from calm. In fact, there is an uneasy silence that rips through the walls and alleys after alleys where once Muslim families lived. And words like reconciliation, trust seemed unthinable in the present interest.
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