Muzaffarnagar MP Kadir Rana attended August 30 meeting where inflammatory speeches were allegedly made
Among the Uttar Pradesh politicians facing arrest for communal riots that killed nearly 50 and left 40,000 displaced in Muzaffarnagar, is the MP from the riot-hit area, who has been allegedly missing for days.
As his constituency struggles to cope with the aftermath of the violence which drove thousands of villagers to relief camps, Muzaffarnagar MP Kadir Rana, a member of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has not been seen for almost two weeks. He hasn't been to his homes in Muzaffarnagar or Delhi, say his staff.
"We don't know where he is, but he has not gone underground," said Mr Rana's secretary at his home in Muzaffarnagar.
"He is being framed, his words have been twisted out of context. He will soon come out and speak to the media" the aide said.
The Uttar Pradesh police say they will arrest the politicians within two days.
(Muzaffarnagar riots: warrants against politicians, still no arrests)Kadir Rana is accused of making highly incendiary speeches at a gathering on August 30 after Friday prayers, at a time when public meetings had been banned in anticipation of tension after the killing of three young men in Kawal village - two Jat cousins and a Muslim man. The cousins were allegedly lynched by a mob after they killed a Muslim man for harassing their sister.
Incidentally, on the day he was making that speech in Muzaffarnagar, Kadir Rana has signed in his attendance in Parliament in Delhi. Sources say he may have signed the Lok Sabha register later, which is a common practice.
Mr Rana, who left the Samajwadi Party in 2007, was in the Rashtriya Lok Dal before he switched to the BSP in 2009. He has four criminal cases against him, including murder, attempt to murder and robbery