BJP demands CBI probe

BJP on Monday demanded a CBI probe into the Muzaffarnagar riots even as it termed the one-man judicial commission's report as an attempt to cover up the role of the Samajwadi Party government in the conflagration.

The party said the SP government is the "main culprit" in the riots which were "triggered" by its leaders for its "vote bank politics".

"The SP government is responsible for riots. It is the main accused. Its vote bank politics fuelled the riots. If it had taken effective action against the accused involved in killing two youths, then violence would not have erupted," the party's national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

The Akhilesh Yadav government should order a CBI probe into the riots, he said.

Sharma alleged that Azam Khan, a minister in the UP government, used his influence for securing the release of the people responsible for killing two youths which added to the unrest and violence.