UP court issues non-bailable warrant against all 27 Bulandshahr violence accused

Bajrang Dal district convener Yogesh Raj, BJP’s Syana youth wing president Shikhar Agarwal, VHP activist Upendra Raghav and former pradhan of Mahav village Rajkumar were among the 27 accused named in the FIR.

The court of the Bulandshahr chief judicial magistrate Avdhesh Pandey has issued non-bailable warrants (NBW) against 27 people named in connection with the December 3 violence in which police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a local man, 21-year-old Sumit Kumar, were killed in the western district of Uttar Pradesh .

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

Bajrang Dal district convenor Yogesh Raj, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Syana youth wing city president Shikhar Agarwal, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) activist Upendra Raghav and Rajkumar, former head of Mahav village, are among the accused in the first information report.

The non-bailable warrants have been granted to ensure the suspects are either arrested or they surrender in court, the police said.

The suspects have been charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) with unlawful assembly, rioting, being armed with deadly weapons, attempt to murder, and murder, among others.

The investigating officer, circle officer Syana Raghvendra Mishra, told the court the accused were absconding, and trying to vitiate communal harmony and influence evidence by releasing videos. Owing to the sensitivity of the case, non-bailable warrants were required to ensure their arrest, the investigating officer said.

Six police teams have been formed to arrest the suspects and a special investigation team (SIT) is trying to identify the troublemakers through video clips of the violence, which was triggered by the alleged sighting of cow carcasses.

Police have so far arrested 11 people, including an army jawan, Jeetendra Malik aka Jeetu Fauji, after identifying them through video clips. The Bulandshahr senior superintendent of police’s office confirmed that non-bailable warrants had been issued against the suspects and proceedings for confiscating their property would begin if they did not surrender in court or present themselves for arrest.

Read | Bulandshahr violence accused releasing videos to garner sympathy, say police