Acquitted in riot case,Varun free of all charges in Pilibhit

In all,39 prosecution witnesses were produced before the court. All witnesses from police and public turned hostile,said Saxena,adding that it also could not be established that Varun had instigated the mob or was part of any conspiracy.

According to the prosecution,on March 17 and 18,2009,two cases against Varun were registered at Barkhera and Kotwali police station,respectively,on charges of making inflammatory speeches with communal overtones at public gatherings.

On March 28,Varun surrendered before the court in these cases. While he was being taken to jail,his supporters allegedly attacked the police,pelted stones and opened fire. Varun was accused of instigating the people.

A criminal case was registered at Kotwali police station. The police investigated and filed the chargesheet against Varun and 13 others under various sections of IPC including 307 (attempt to murder) and 147 (rioting) in December 2010.

On a request from Varun,his case was separated from the other accused.

Saxena said that after the chargesheet was filed,the police conducted further investigation and later filed a report in the court stating that the allegation of involvement of Varun was found to be ‘wrong’. The trial of the other accused is still pending in the court.

This was the last case pending against Varun in Pilibhit. He has already been acquitted in both hate speech cases. On February 27,he was acquitted in the case which was filed at Kotwali police station and on March 5 he was acquitted in the case lodged at Barkhera police station.