The violence in Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring districts left more than 60 people dead and displaced over 40,000 people, according to official figures. (Express File Photo)In the early hours of Monday, posters invoking the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots appeared near the city’s bus stand with a purported message: ‘Na bhoole the, na bhoole hai, na bhoolenge (We had not forgotten, we have not forgotten, we will not forget).’Newspaper clippings were pasted alongside the posters, which appeared on the day that marked 13 years since the riots erupted.Muzaffarnagar police quickly removed the posters after being alerted, and are now trying to identify the people behind them and probing their motive.Police said the miscreants were caught on CCTV getting off a bus on Monday and pasting posters.“I have directed the Superintendent of Police, City, to probe the poster episode and submit a report,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Sanjai Kumar.He added that CCTV footage from cameras installed near the site had been collected, and efforts were underway to identify the persons seen getting off the bus.Police suspect two to three people were involved.When contacted, Superintendent of Police, City (Muzaffarnagar), Amrit Jain declined to comment, saying an inquiry into the matter is underway.Story continues below this adSimilar posters were reportedly seen in other districts as well, including Aligarh, with photographs circulating on social media.Superintendent of Police, Aligarh, Aditya Bansal said officers had come across photographs of the alleged site, but physical verification revealed nothing there.The development comes amid renewed political references to the 2013 riots, which occurred ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections — and months before the 2027 state assembly polls.The violence in Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring districts left more than 60 people dead and displaced over 40,000 people, according to official figures.Story continues below this adThe issue has also remained part of the political and legal discourse in the state. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath frequently said in public rallies that riots no longer happen in UP, boasting of the law and order transformation under his regime in the state since 2017.The Indian Express, in 2019, had reported that in 40 of the 41 Muzaffarnagar riot cases, all the accused walked free.The Indian Express had found that witnesses and police officers turned hostile; victims openly alleged fear and intimidation; and there were long delays in medical examination in gangrape cases.On August 12 this year, a special MP-MLA court allowed the prosecution to withdraw a case against 25 BJP leaders and Hindu activists, including Uttar Pradesh minister Kapil Dev Agarwal, former Union minister Sanjeev Balyan and former state minister Suresh Rana, in connection with a case related to the riots.Story continues below this adThey were facing trial for allegedly violating prohibitory orders, obstructing public servants in the discharge of their duties and inciting communal tension through speeches at a mahapanchayat held at Nagla Mador in the district on July 31, 2013, according to the prosecution.(With PTI inputs)