Muzaffarnagar riots: Commission records 61 more statements

MUZAFFARNAGAR: A one-man inquiry commission probing the Muzaffarnagar riots has recorded 61 more statements including those of social and political activists.

The inquiry commission of Justice (retd) Vishnu Sahai, in its seven-day hearing here, recorded 61 statements and returned to Lucknow last evening, officials said.

The commission would summon officers of riots affected districts -- Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Shamli, and Baghpat -- to record their statements in its next sitting in October, they said.

The one-member judicial inquiry commission of Justice (retd) Vishnu Sahai, former Judge of Allahabad High Court, was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government last year to probe the Muzaffarnagar violence.

The Commission was also asked to look into administrative lapses, if any, in controlling the violence.

375 statements have been recorded by the commission so far, officials said.

More than 60 people were killed and 40,000 displaced during riots in Muzaffarnagar district and neighbouring areas in September last.