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Updated: Dec 24, 2018 22:30 IST

An accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots was found hanging at Sikheda village here on Sunday evening, police said.

Sodan Singh’s body was found hanging from the ceiling of a room which housed a tube well in an agricultural field, they said.

His family members protested over his death, but the police calmed them down and sent the body for a post-mortem examination. The matter was being investigated, police said.

His son has lodged a complaint at the local police station and alleged that his 60-year-old father was murdered. Based on the complaint, a case was registered against Anup, Rajesh, Sunil Kumar and Ramgopal, police said.

Inspector Sarvesh Kumar Singh of the Sikheda police station said Sodan Singh was an accused in riots and the police had registered a case against him for setting a car afire at the time.

The family members of a villager had also registered a case of molestation against Sodan Singh and it was suspected that they had murdered him, locals said.

However, superintendent of police, City, Ombeer Singh said the post-mortem report mentioned ante- mortem hanging, indicating that it was a case of suicide. But the police were investigating the matter, he said.

The communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in August and September 2013 had claimed more than 60 lives while over 40,000 people were displaced.

(with PTI inputs)