Probe ordered after row over encroachment drive in Meerut

Meerut police has launched a crackdown against 60 suspects and announced a reward of Rs 25,000 each on nearly 22 of them identified so far for arson and attack on the eviction team.

“Mahesh Chand Sharma, additional district magistrate (city), has been asked to conduct a probe into the incident,” said Anil Dhingra, District Magistrate (DM).

“Adequate police force has been deployed in the area. We are also trying to identify the trouble makers,” said Nitin Tiwari, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP). Following the incident, local BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal and five party legislators met the SSP on Thursday evening demanding action against the attackers.

“We have information that a majority of the families living in the unauthorised colony are into various illegal trades,” Agarwal said. Former minister in the BSP government, Haji Yaqub Quershi, however, said, “What happened that day was a conspiracy hatched by the law enforcers and the BJP leaders to defame a particular community,” he alleged.