A First Information Report was filed against Bhartiya Janata Party leader Sangeet Som on Wednesday for violating the poll code by screening a documentary with content related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, PTI reported. The sitting MLA from Sardhana and two others were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act.

Senior Superintendent of Police Ravindra Kumar told PTI that the trio had screened a documentary on Muzaffarnagar riots and Som’s arrest in 2013 following the riots. The clipping was shown in Fareedpur village in Som’s constituency, Sardhana. In the video, Som was portrayed as “Hindu saviour” and accused the police of torturing to death one of the men responsible for the Dadri lynching incident, reported The Hindu. The police has seized the video and the vehicle on which it was screened.

The villagers, who approached the police to complain against Som, said the clippings were being deliberately shown to incite communal violence. However, Som said that there was nothing controversial in the documentary and some of the clippings had already been screened on TV channels.

Som is an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.He was arrested in connection with the incident, however, he is out on bail. The state Assembly elections will begin on February 11. The Model Code of Conduct came into effect from January 4.