Politicians in Saharanpur are fighting over the modalities of the probe into riots that shook the city on Saturday.

While the BJP is likely to push for a CBI investigation, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is satisfied with the ongoing police probe and wants the State to complete the process at the earliest.

Saharanpur MP and BJP leader Raghav Lakhanpal said the casualties would have been much higher had Central forces not been deployed on time.

“If the Centre had not stepped in on Saturday, if (the Home Minister) Rajnath Singh had not intervened, we would have been sitting on a pile of dead bodies,” he told BusinessLine .

The moment normalcy returns, he will seek an appointment with the Prime Minister and request him to order a CBI probe, he added.

“We need to know who the perpetrators and organisers of the crime are,” he said.

The BJP feels the by-elections to be held in Saharanpur in three months are behind the violence.

Politics to blame? “The reason is politics and the fuel is lack of administrative will or, maybe, specific directions from the State Government (run by Samajwadi Party) to not react. It was planned,” Lakhanpal alleged.

“There are certain leaders of certain parties who have a political objective to polarise the votes of a particular community,” he added.

The Qazi of Saharanpur, Nadeem Akhtar, however, said there was nothing political in the violence and it started spontaneously.

“There was a feeling of anger. The property of both the communities has been damaged,” he said, adding that only a thorough investigation can reveal the truth.

BSP MLA Mahavir Singh Rana said his party was satisfied with the ongoing investigation by two senior police officials.

“They should be allowed to work freely. They know the city well. A CBI investigation or a judicial probe may take several years to complete and justice will be delayed,” Rana said.

PTI reports Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal called up Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday and asked the UP Government to ensure the security of the Sikh community.

Badal, according to an official statement here, also assured full support and cooperation to Mulayam to tackle this critical situation. Mulayam also assured Badal that the UP Government is fully committed to ensure the well being of every single person living in the State.

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