A village Khap panchayat in the district has decided that it will not allow police to arrest those allegedly involved in five incidents of gangrape during last year's riots.

Muzaffarnagar: A village Khap panchayat in the district has decided that it will not allow police to arrest those allegedly involved in five incidents of gangrape during last year's riots.

The decision was taken on Wednesday at a meeting of Khap Panchayat of Ghatwala council in Fugana village which was also attended by Khap head of Haryana, Choudhary Baljit Singh.

"The panchayat has decided that it will not allow police to arrest any of the accused inside the village," Ghatwala council head Harkishan Singh Malik said.

The council also announced that it will hold an all Khap councils heads meet in the village on 9 February to discuss further on the issue, he added.

The Special Investigation Team, constituted by Uttar Pradesh government to probe into last year's Muzaffarnagar riots, had sent a list of 22 accused in five gangrape cases to the local police asking them to make the arrests.

The arrest of one of the accused Vedpal on 24 January had triggered protests by locals and Khap members. Police had met with resistance from irate locals when it had gone to the village to arrest the accused.

Over 60 people were killed and more than 40,000 people displaced in communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in September last year.

PTI