UP: Over 100 booked for violence, stone-pelting during Meerapur assembly bypoll

Muzaffarnagar: More than 100 people, including supporters of the Samajwadi Party and AIMIM, have been booked for violence and stone-pelting in Kakroli village during the Meerapur assembly bypoll here, police said on Thursday.

Voting for bypolls in nine assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh was held on Wednesday.

The FIR, lodged on Wednesday evening, names 15 Samajwadi Party supporters and 10 All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) supporters, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rural Aditya Bansal said.

"They are accused of attempting to murder, obstructing police duty and engaging in violence during the clash with law enforcement personnel on the evening of November 20,” he said, adding that a probe is on to determine the identities of the remaining suspects.

According to the FIR, the incident occurred when police were dispersing a group of individuals who confronted them during the voting at Kakroli village on Wednesday. The situation escalated, leading to stone-pelting at the police, it said.

Meanwhile, AIMIM district president Maulana Imran Qasmi alleged that the police had prevented voters with valid documents from exercising their franchise in the by-election.

"Police have filed a false case against the workers for protesting against this. The allegation of stone-pelting on the police is false," he claimed.