Rana is the first MLA to be arrested in the Muzaffarnagar riots even as two other party MLAs – Sangeet Singh Som and Kunwar Bhartendu – were evading arrest. Rana was arrested under section 153 of the IPC for delivering an inflammatory speech on 31 August, which later triggered the riots.
After his arrest, STF personnel took him to an undisclosed place.
Earlier, the UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, too, had indicated arrest of the accused MLAs in the Muzaffarnagar riots. Suresh Rana, MLA from Thana Bhawan constitutency in Shamli district, pleaded his innocence in the assembly and challenged the government to provide any evidence of his hate speech during the Mahapanchayat.
A local court on 18 September had issued non-bailable arrest warrants against 16 people, including 8 senior politicians – BSP MP Qadir Rana, BSP MLAs Jameel Ahmed and Noor Salim Rana, former Congress MP Saedduzzaman and BJP MLAs Sangeet Singh Som, Kunwar Bharatendu and Bharatiya Kisan Union leaders Rakesh Tikait and Naresh Tikait.
Surprisingly, no arrests have been made of the political leaders against whom non-bailable warrants have been issued. Only FIRs were registered against BJP MLAs Suresh Rana and Hukum Singh.