BJP MLA accused of fanning Muzaffarnagar riots 'got rich quick'

Even as teams of the police and STF are conducted raids at various locations to arrest BJP MLA Sangeet Som who is still at large, the police are investigating how he built up a business empire in a short time.

Even as teams of the local police and Special Task Force (STF) are conducted raids at various locations to arrest Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sangeet Som who is still at large, the police are investigating how he built up a business empire in such a short time.

The police filed two FIRs against the MLA from Sardhana for giving a provocative speech at a mahapanchayat and sharing a fake video on a social networking site, which allegedly incited communal violence in Muzaffarnagar on September 7 in which 48 people were killed.

While his residence was raided by the local police and STF on Thursday, subsequent raids, based on intelligence inputs, have been taking place all over Sardhana area to arrest the MLA.

“We raided the residence of the MLA at Sardhana after receiving his arrest order from the Muzaffarnagar police,” said SSP Deepak Kumar. The police are also investigating Som’s business dealings and investigating how he built up a business empire in such a short period.

“Besides having partnership in a meat business with one Kamil Choudhary of Aligarh, the MLA also owns a liquor factory at Ponta Sahib in Punjab ", the SSP said adding that he is also active in real estate business in Noida.

"I don’t think that the MLA delivered a provocative speech at the mahapanchayat as no incident of violence was reported by the participants after the meeting,” said party’s MP from Meerut Rajendra Aggarwal.

He added that the MLA may have “mistakenly” shared the fake video on a networking site for which he is being treated as a hardcore criminal.

Aggarwal adviced the state government to refrain from indulging in politics of vendetta and instead take action against the real perpetrators.