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Key accused in Bulandshahr violence sacked from PM welfare scheme body
BJP leaders have distanced themselves from Shikhar Agarwal following widespread criticism at this appointment as the Bulandshahr district general secretary of PM Jankalyankari Yojna Jagrukta Abhiyan (PMJYJA).
Shikhar Agarwal, a key accused in a case of violence in Bulandshahr in which inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed during violence in December 2018, was expelled late Saturday night from the district unit of the body which oversees Prime Minister’s welfare schemes.
Agarwal’s expulsion from Prime Minister Jankalyankari Yojna Jagrukta Abhiyan (PMJYJA) came after his photograph with a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader went viral stirring a controversy. In the photograph, he was seen allegedly being felicitated by Bulandshahr BJP president Anil Sisodia at an event on July 14.
The sacking came after his appointment left the BJP red-faced.
Agarwal and five others are accused in the Bulandshahr violence case of 2018, in which inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was attacked by an armed mob. The officer had gone to the area to restore calm after violence had erupted over cow slaughter rumours. The accused is currently out on bail.
“I came to know from the media that Shikhar was an accused in the violence in which inspector Subodh was killed. The matter was discussed with the organisation’s senior officials and Shikhar was expelled. Now, he has no association with the organisation,” said Priyatam Kumar Prem, district president, PM Jankalyankari Yojna Jagrukta Abhiyan (PMJYJA), Bulandshahr.
Prem also claimed that BJP’s Bulandshahar district unit president Anil Sisodia was present in the function as chief guest and the PMJYJA has no link with the BJP.
Other BJP leaders also distanced themselves from Agarwal after widespread criticism.
BJP’s Bulandshahar district unit general secretary Sanjay Gurjar came forward to defend his president Anil Sisodiya and claimed that PMJYJA was an NGO and it had no association with the BJP and Sisodiya attended the function as chief guest.
But the names of members of the advisory panel of PMJYJA belie the claims of BJP leaders.
It includes names of senior party leaders and ministers like Shyam Jaju, Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank, Narendra Tomar, Giriraj Singh, Dharmendra Pradhan and many more.
Congress leader and member of party’s strategic and planning committee Imran Masood said, “Appointing a violence accused on an important post was an attempt to glorify him, which can’t be accepted”. He further said that the entire state had been facing anarchy in the rule of BJP.
Shikhar Agarwal was associated with the youth wing of the BJP in Syana town of district Bulandshahar and was named one of the accused in Bulandshahr violence along with Yogesh Raj of Bajrang Dal and other leaders of Hindu organisations.
A senior BJP leader, on the condition of anonymity, said “I was surprised when I came to know about his appointment. He was sacked from the party after his name figured among the accused in Bulandshahr violence”.
