2013 Muzaffarnagar riots: Charges framed against 5 accused of killing youth

A local court on Monday framed charges against five people accused of killing a youth whose death was a trigger for the infamous Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013.

District and Sessions Judge Sanjay Kumar Pachori has framed charges under sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 of the Indian Penal Code against the five accused.

The court has fixed next Tuesday for producing witnesses from the prosecution side against Prahlad, Bishan Singh, Tendu, Devender and Jitender.

According to the prosecution, the five are among the six people accused of stabbing Shahnawaz to death at Kawal village in Jansath area of Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district on August 27, 2013.

Shahnawaz's death and that of two youths in another incident were said to be the trigger behind the communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in August and September 2013, which claimed 60 lives and displaced over 40,000 people.