Main accused in Saharanpur riots arrested

The Saharanpur police on Wednesday arrested the main accused in the recent riots, Moharram Ali alias Pappu, on Wednesday evening.

The Saharanpur police on Wednesday arrested the main accused in the recent riots, Moharram Ali, alias Pappu, on Wednesday evening.

Police were looking for him in connection with Saturday's communal violence. He along with five of his aides has been booked under different sections of IPS. Police have filed 75 cases against them including National Security Act (NSA).

"We were continuously hunting for him and we finally nabbed him from the city area on Wednesday," said Rajesh Pandey, SSP of Saharanpur adding "during interrogation he has given some vital leads, like who were behind the violence and how it was started. We are further working on it, to reach other perpetrators of the crime".

Moharram Ali was considered responsible for Saturday's violence which claimed lives of three people and left 33 others injured. The rioters torched many shops and vehicles and a curfew was imposed in six police stations on Saturday when clashes erupted between Sikh and Muslims over a piece of land.

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There are allegations that Moharram notoriously disputed the land which has been under possession of Guru Singh Sabha since 1998 and tried to create hurdles over construction of Gurudwara over this land. The controversy eventually led to a clash on Saturday and Moharram Ali allegedly instigated the crowed which went on rampage.

Moharram was an ex-councilor of Nagar Nigam and has a criminal record. The officials and members of Guru Singh Sabha have been demanding for his arrest since past three days.

A delegation of BJP MLAs and leaders also visited the violence hit town on Wednesday afternoon. They also had demanded immediate arrest of Moharram.