4 arrested for Bulandshahr cop killing, CM Yogi to take stock of law and order

Four people were arrested after multiple raids in connection with Monday’s violence in Bulandshahr but the key accused was still at large, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

The situation in the western Uttar Pradesh district was tense but under control, additional director general of police (law and order) Anand Kumar said.

The violence over an incident of alleged cow slaughter in Mahaw village of the district led to the death of two men, including that of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh.

The prime accused Yogesh Raj, who had earlier lodged a complaint alleging cow slaughter, is allegedly the convenor of the Bajrang Dal unit in Bulandshahr. He is said to have led the group which resorted to violence on Monday after the recovery of cow carcasses on Sunday night.

 

Raj is among the 28 people named by police in a case of murder and rioting after the violence in Mahaw and 60 are unidentified. The list of accused also includes the names of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) youth wing president in Syana, Shikhar Agarwal, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP’s) former president in the same town Upendra Raghav. Syana is a town in Bulandshahr.

Claiming that Raj is the outfit’s district convener in Bulandshahr, Bajrang Dal’s regional coordinator Balraj Singh Dungar said, “we are with our leaders and workers”.

But ADG Kumar refused to comment on the organisation Raj is associated with.

Kumar said those arrested were Chaman, Ram, Satish and Ashish Chauhan. He also said three others have been taken into custody for interrogation and that raids were on to arrest Raj and others involved in the incident.

The senior police official said two FIRs have been lodged so far, one under the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act related to the recovery of cow carcasses and the other for an attack on the police force. He said six teams were formed for the arrest of the accused.

No arrests have been made in connection with the recovery of cow carcasses.

Vehicles set on fire by a mob during a protest over the alleged illegal slaughter of cattle, in Bulandshahr, Monday. (PTI photo)

The special investigation team (SIT) was probing all aspects of the incident, including how the carcasses were found in the village and those behind it, he said. The SIT will also probe the circumstances under which inspector Singh was cornered and shot at, he added.

Inspector Singh was injured in stone-pelting and shot later, said the ADG. Twenty-one-year-old Sumit, who was also killed in the incident, belonged to the group of attackers. He confirmed the police had fired in the air to disperse the mob which had turned violent.

Meanwhile, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has called a meeting with officials later in the day to take stock of the law and order situation in the state.

Read | Bulandshahr violence: Fearing police retaliation, men flee villages after inspector’s killing

Fair probe

The BJP’s president of western UP unit Ashwini Tyagi expressed his unhappiness over inclusions of names of Bajrang Dal, VHP and his party’s leaders in the first information report (FIR) along with villagers.

“As per my reports, they were not involved in violence and police should have included their names after investigation,” he said.

Demanding a fair probe, he held mishandling of the situation responsible for the violence. He alleged police lathi-charge and firing angered the villagers further. He also asked how a large number of cows were slaughtered in spite of strict orders from the state government to stop the practice.

Meanwhile, Singh’s relatives said they would allow the cremation only if chief minister Yogi Adityanath came to their native village in Etah or at least talked to the wife of the policeman.

They also sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into Singh’s killing. Manisha, one of Singh’s cousins, demanded a memorial and an intermediate school in his name in the village.

Earlier, police officials and people paid their last respects to the inspector at the Bulandshahr police lines on Tuesday morning. Additional director general (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar, inspector general of Meerut range Ramkumar, Bulandshahr district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha and senior superintendent of police KB Singh carried his body on their shoulders.

Amarjeet, the father of the man killed in Monday’s violence, demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh, and a sub-inspector’s job for his other son Vineet. He told BJP’s Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh to convey his family’s demand to the chief minister.

Amarjeet said if his demands were not fulfilled he will stage a sit-in protest with his family.

He accused the police of not allowing his son’s post-mortem examination at the Meerut hospital on Monday night and said the keys of the mortuary were taken away. He blamed the police for deliberately delaying Sumit’s autopsy.

BJP MP Bhola Singh said he would discuss the family’s demands after the cremation of Sumit. “My priority is now to get family’s FIR registered,” he said.