A court in Uttar Pradesh acquitted 22 persons in connection with a case pertaining to murder, loot and arson linked to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, citing the lack of evidence, PTI reported on Sunday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Kanishk Kumar acquitted the 22 persons on Saturday after observing that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt, The Times of India reported.

The case pertained to violence reported from Mohammadpur Raisingh village on September 8, 2013, PTI reported.

The prosecution said that a complaint had been filed by a man named Haneef, whose father had been beaten to death during the violence. Haneef had alleged that the rioters attacked houses in the village, looted property and set homes on fire. The rioters also allegedly damaged a mosque and set fire to a motorcycle belonging to a police constable.

The counsel for the government said that a special investigation team had filed a chargesheet against 26 persons after the incident. However, four of the accused persons died while the trial was pending.

Communal violence had erupted in Muzaffarnagar in September 2013 after Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including state minister Suresh Rana, former party MLA Sangeet Som and former MP Bharatendra Singh allegedly made inflammatory speeches.

At least 60 persons were killed and thousands of Muslim families were displaced in the riots that followed. There were also several reports of sexual assault and abuse in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts.